


A Moment of Magic

by CartoonLover



Series: A Journey of Magic [2]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION, Dad Donald is still best Donald, Family Fluff, Gen, Louie is not okay, Magic AU, Magical Bond, Possession, but he has his family so he will be :), della's homecoming isn't as smooth as in the show, della... della tries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 100,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23237560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonLover/pseuds/CartoonLover
Summary: The McDuck clan is back together with no more secrets, but obstacles are still out there, past and present. Will they be able to overcome and still be together? Probably, but let's see what happens anyway.
Relationships: Daisy Duck & Della Duck & Donald Duck & Goofy & Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse, Della Duck & Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck, Della Duck & Donald Duck, Della Duck & Donald Duck & Fethry Duck & Gladstone Gander, Della Duck & Donald Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Dewey Duck & Donald Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck, Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck, Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Lena & Violet Sabrewing & Webby Vanderquack, Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Lena & Webby Vanderquack, Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Dewey Duck & Huey Duck & Louie Duck & Webby Vanderquack, Donald Duck & Scrooge McDuck, Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera & Donald Duck & Gyro Gearloose, José Carioca & Donald Duck & Panchito Pistoles, Louie Duck & "Glittering" Goldie O'Gilt, Louie Duck & Lena (Disney: DuckTales)
Series: A Journey of Magic [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1491116
Comments: 83
Kudos: 143





	1. The Real Healing Begins

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back guys! I know this has been a long time coming but it's finally here! Hope y'all enjoy! If you wanna know where I've been check out my Tumblr: starshinewriter, it has all you need to know about my writing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone starts to move on from the shadow war and bridges are rebuilt.

Dewey wasn't expecting one of his first nights back at the mansion to be spent sucked into a board game, but, life was funny that way. There wasn't much he could do about it, and truth be told there wasn't much he _wanted_ to do about it. He did wish his brothers' night had been better though. But, things had worked out in the end and they were okay now, or okay as they could be, so he didn't dwell on that thought for long.

Still, he did wish there wasn't so much to clean up. Even with four of them having magic it would take a while. Especially since one of them wasn't really helping. 

Louie softly groaned as he laid on the ground, this night had turned into such a mess. He wanted one night, just one night, was that too much to ask for?! Why did this family have to be so.... adventurest? Well, at least one good thing came out of tonight; angles, he could work with that. He just had to figure out how. But that talk with Scrooge made him start thinking about stuff, he was like Della, how did he feel about that? Of course the three of them had things in common with her, but something like this, a defining trait of his? That was.... troubling to say the least.

He knew Scrooge had told him that to make him feel better but all it did was confuse him. He didn't like her, and he certainly didn't want to be like her, but he couldn't change the fact that he was. But what did that mean for him? For his brothers? Maybe it didn't have to mean anything after all, maybe it was just another fact. Kids are like their parents, he was like his Dad in a lot of ways but he wanted to be like his Dad, he was great, Della.... she wasn't. "Louie?" He heard a voice ask as if hearing his thoughts. With how bonded the three of them were it wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. 

"Yeah?" He replied without picking his head up, making it come out muffled. 

"Are you gonna help us, or just lay there?" 

"Can't I do both?" He could feel his brothers' stares and sighed, rolling over and slowly picking himself up, only to sit in a ball on the ground. Huey and Dewey shared a look before joining him. Cleaning could wait, their brother needed them. "I'm tired of the constant adventures, guys. I can't do it, not like you can." And if they were anyone else they would have called him lazy, but they've always seemed to know when he was being lazy and it was actually difficult for him to do anything. Plus, they were starting to get tired of it too. They didn't know how Scrooge and Webby did it and they did not want to find out. 

Some things were better left a mystery. "It's hard to do things constantly, especially something as intense as adventuring. I know I was all gung-ho about it earlier but after thinking about it... I'm starting to get tired of it too. We just dealt with Magica, we shouldn't be straining ourselves like this. I don't know why Uncle Scrooge is so persistent about it." 

"It's his way of bonding with us." Dewey stated making his brothers look at him. "Have we actually talked to him about everything since we moved back in? He just wants to know we still like him."

"We need to talk to him." 

With that in mind they got off the floor and went to look for him, finding him still in his office from his previous conversation with Louie. He looked up when he saw them enter and smiled, though they noted it looked a little strained. "What can ae do fer yew, lads?" They took that as a sign to come further in and did just that as they glanced at each other, silently trying to decide how to start. 

"We wanted to talk to you, about what happened on that cliff." Scrooge's smile fell and he let out an 'oh'. Huey rubbed his arm, "Yeah. It's just, we, well Dewey technically, realized that we hadn't and that's not fair to any of us. If we're gonna move past it we have to talk about it. I think it goes without saying that we're sorry for what we said, we didn't have all the information. It wasn't right to blame just you." 

"Ae suppose we all could've handled this whole thing differently. Ae made a lot o' mistakes, both back then and now, ae shouldnae have built the rocket and ae shouldnae have lashed oot at yew three like ae did. It just, hurt, when yew said that stuff, even if yew were right ta. Yew were right, aboot everythin', ae'm the reason she's nae here now."

"No, Della's the reason she's not here now." Scrooge looked at Dewey surprised. "She took the rocket and if it wasn't the rocket it would've been something else, she left cause she wasn't ready for us, not cause of you... I'm sorry I called you the worst, you're not, you're the best uncle we could've asked for, even if you made some mistakes." His brothers nodded in agreement and Scrooge felt his eyes well up. He got out of his seat and the boys immediately ran forward for a hug, repeatedly saying how sorry they were and how much they loved him. 

"Thank yew, lads, ae'm sorry ta, fer everythin'... Be honest, are any o' yew still mad at me?" The hug broke as the boys looked at each other, were they? Was there a reason for them to be? Well there was the obvious but they couldn't hold onto that forever, it wasn't healthy. And like their Dad said, it wasn't entirely his fault and he _more_ than made up for it by now. It would dumb for them to still be mad. Besides, all they really wanted to do was move past it. 

"No, but there was something else that we wanted to talk to you about-"

"The constant adventuring has to stop man, we can't take it anymore!" Louie exclaimed, interrupting his brother. Scrooge looked taken back and his brothers nodded their heads in agreement. "We know it's like your way of bonding with us or whatever but there are other ways to do that! We're not like you we can't do it all the time, we need breaks every now and then." 

Scrooge gawked at them, "Well, why haven't ye just said so! O' course we can slow down, the point is fer yew kids ta have fun nae ta stress yew oot. Yew're still new ta this o' course ye need breaks, ack, ae should've seen it sooner! Yer Dad was the same way at yer age, it takes years ta get ta where ae am! And ae have ta admit a break or two does me some good ta. We'll take it easier from now on, alright?" 

"Alright!" They chorused. "Now what was that part about Dad?" 

The four of them talked for a while before the boys headed off to bed, content that things between them were finally improving. It probably wouldn't go back to how it was before, but that was good, now there were no more secrets between them. They could finally be a real family, all of them. Speaking of which, were was their Dad? They hadn't seen him since starting the cleanup of the dining room and he always told them goodnight. Something wasn't right. And they had to find out what. 

Meanwhile with Donald he was looking through his old room, trying to make a tough decision when the door opened. He looked to see it was his boys and realized that it was their bedtime. He had gotten so wrapped up in his thoughts that he lost track of time. Well, it wasn't like it was the first time. "Sorry, boys, didn't realize how late it was. You heading to bed now?" 

They nodded, "What are you doing in here, thought you still lived in the houseboat?" Dewey asked confused. 

"Just doing some thinking. Louie, you doing okay? You seemed stressed earlier." Donald noted as he looked him over. He seemed fine now, but, he was a worrier, especially when it came to his boys. 

Louie put his hands his in pocket, "Yeah, I'm- I'm good now, sorry for getting you guys trapped in a board game. I should've just admitted what my problem was." Huey patted him on the arm comfortingly and he gave him a weak smile. 

Donald nodded, "Well, you eventually talked about it, that's what matters." He bent down to their level, "You can tell us anything. You know that, right?" 

"I do." He confirmed, "I just didn't know how. I mean Della was so good at adventuring and she still got lost in space. Where does that leave me?" Oh, Donald didn't know about that part. "I guess I gotta figure it out, huh?" 

"We're with you no matter what you find out." Donald promised. And with that Louie knew he could get through anything. As long as he had his brothers and his Dad he would be fine. No matter what result he came to. 

* * *

After Donald told the boys goodnight he went back to his room- his _old_ room. Well, maybe it wouldn't have to be old anymore. Things with him and Scrooge were good, they were finally letting themselves truly move past what happened to Della. There was no real reason for him to stay on the houseboat, except, the memories. He spent his teenage years in that room and even the beginning of his adult ones. Could he stay in there knowing those memories were still there? Maybe, but he needed to change it up. He wasn't that person anymore. 

Right as he settled on that there was a knock at the door. He looked at it confused, did one of the boys have a nightmare? No that wasn't possible, he just sent them to bed. So then who....? "Come in." He said. 

His Uncle Scrooge walked in with a knowing look, "Ae thought ae'd find yew in here."

"Oh, Uncle Scrooge, did you need something?" Donald asked before going back to mentally rearranging his room. What would be easiest to do first? He definitely needed a new bed, one that wasn't a hammock. And he needed a bigger wardrobe, and a place to store his magic stuff... Maybe it would easier for him to stay in the houseboat, but, did he want that? No, he wanted to be as close to his family as possible. He could figure everything else out, just maybe not all tonight. 

"Nothing much, just wanted ta know what ye were up ta. Ae talked ta the lads earlier, we apologized fer everythin' so that's good ae suppose." Donald noted the way he was beating around the bush and raised an eyebrow. "Alright, so ae came here fer another reason! Ae wanted ta know, are we good? Are ye still mad at me over anythin'?" He didn't have to think about that, he already knew the answer. 

"I forgave you for everything when we were dealing with Magica and the shadow war, it's like I told the boys: this family's better together than apart. I'm ready to move forward, and I'm ready to do it with you, Uncle Scrooge." 

"And ae'm ready fer that ta, whatever it takes. So, any particular reason yer in here?" Scrooge asked hopefully. 

Donald nodded, "Yes, actually, I was thinking of moving back in here. If you'll have me?"

Scrooge broke into a wide grin and grabbed him into a hug, "O' course ae'll have ye, lad! Yew'll always have a place here. Now dinnae think this means yew can be a freeloader, ae'll still be exceptin' yew at the money bin."

Donald rolled his eyes fondly, "Yes, Uncle Scrooge." He paused for a second as he thought about something. "Hey, do you wanna help me rearrange this place? It's too much work for just me and I don't really wanna use my magic for it unless I have to." 

"Sure, lad, not a problem at all. Just maybe," 

"Not tonight." Scrooge nodded, "Yeah, I didn't want to either, it's been a looong day. Tomorrow then? Hopefully we'll have more energy. Well, I don't have anything else to do, think I'll head in for the night. Suggest you do the same, wouldn't want you to fall asleep at the breakfast table." He added on with a smirk making Scrooge glare at him. 

"Mind yer elders, lad." Donald just let out a laugh and it was his Uncle's turn to roll his eyes. The two of them then said goodnight to each other and Scrooge left, muttering about the 'disrespectful youths' as he went. But it didn't bother Donald, he knew it was just part of their game. And it was something he missed more than he realized. He looked around his room with a content smile, he missed all of this, and now it was even better, his boys were here too. He couldn't ask for anything more. Well he could but it really wouldn't do any good. He was great now, he couldn't weigh himself down with that stuff, he wouldn't. It was time for the next part of his life. 

The next morning Donald was sorting through his stuff, trying to figure out what he could store and what he wanted to keep out. He was so deep into it that he didn't notice his Uncle walk into the room until he felt a tap on his shoulder. His first instinct was to use his magic and he was glad he restrained himself when he saw who it was. Mostly glad. "Uncle Scrooge, are you trying to give me a heart attack?!" He asked as he clutched his chest. But he was still glad he was there, he needed the help and he really wanted to spend time with his Uncle. They had ten years to catch up on after all. 

As Donald turned back to his stuff he realized how much of it was still there and smiled. “Thought you said you threw this stuff out?” He asked knowingly. 

“Hmm? Oh, guess Betina brought it back up. Cannae see why, this stuff is... “ He picked up one of Donald’s old shirts. “Horrendous.” 

Donald snatched it from him. “Give me that! It’s not horrendous, you just don’t have good taste. Besides, all this stuff is a part of me in some way. You wanted to hold onto it just as much as I do, don’t even try to deny it.” 

“Aye, ae suppose that’s true, lad. Had ta have yew around in some way.” Donald smiled and placed a hand on him. “But yer here now, with new stuff, so we really need ta do somethin’ aboot all this.” 

“Agreed.” The two of them then got to work, aimlessly talking between themselves as they did so. And the fact that they could talk like that now with no actual arguments said a lot about were they where. Where they all were, now that things between Scrooge and his boys were improving he could relax with his Uncle more. He didn’t have to speak up for them as much as he used to. He would still have to sometimes, he had the most experience with raising them, but Scrooge was slowly getting the hang off it. Which meant there would be a lot fewer arguments between them. 

Once they had got done sorting through his clothes Donald sat on his bed with a huff and noted how stiff it was. Yup, it was definitely time for a new one. But how to get one? “Are the mattresses in any of the guest rooms better than this one?” 

“Probably, wanna go grab ane?” Actually, he had something else he needed to do. 

While his Uncle went to get a mattress Donald started looking for a place for his magic stuff. He _could_ keep it on the houseboat but it would be tiring going back and forth so much. Where did he keep it when he was younger? No, that wouldn’t work, he had so much more stuff now. His best bet would be to use his closet and do what he did with his one in the houseboat but actually doing that…. that would be a lot of work. And he would still have more to do after that. This was definitely a more-than-one-day process. Good thing he had help. 

Although maybe doing that would best be saved for last. Getting everything else out of the way would be easier and it was the stuff he needed help with. He would unfortunately have to do the magic stuff by himself, he could ask the boys for help but he knew they were still recuperating from the shadow war. Understandably, they had never gone through something like that before. He wished they never had to but that just wasn't possible being a McDuck. They handled it all really well though, better than he thought they would. Not that he thought they would handle it poorly or anything but he remembered his first big adventure, it did not go too well. He really had to stop applying his own experiences onto them, it wasn't doing any of them any good. 

After Scrooge got back the two of them set up the mattress, albeit not very well. Mattresses and his temper did not go well together. Despite that though he was happy to spend time with his Uncle, and the way Scrooge was acting made him know the feeling was mutual. It seemed like things were finally starting to look up. This family was headed in a good direction, after ten years apart it was about time. There was just one more thing he had to take care of. 

* * *

With Scrooge's permission Donald set to find a better room for the boys' magic lessons, but, he was gonna need help with that too. So, he went to look for them. He ended up finding them sprawled about in the den, unsurprisingly, and watching that ottoman show they always watched. Huh, he woulda thought Webby'd be with them. Well, maybe not, she _was_ going through a tough time, poor kid. He'd have to check on her later. But right now he had another mission. 

"Boys, think you could take a break from that to help me with something?" The boys looked up from their various spots as they suddenly heard noise that wasn't from the tv and realized it was their Dad. 

"Sure, Dad," Huey answered. "What do you need help with?" 

"Oh nothing much just looking for a new room for your magic lessons." He answered nonchalantly, hiding a smile knowing that would excite them. And he was right, the moment they heard that they jumped from their spots and ran over to him. "Now that we don't have to be so secretive about our magic, and that we're here to stay for good I thought it was time for a more... permanent place. So, what do you say?" 

The boys looked at each other, "Let's do it!" 

And so the search began, the four of them looked through different rooms in the mansion causally talking as they did. Eventually the topic got to Della as Donald expected it might and the boys were sharing their thoughts about everything. 

"I just don't understand how she could've just left our family like that." Huey started. "How she could have left _you_ like that, Dad, I mean you guys are twins but it's like she just forgot that! She forgot everybody who cared about her and left, not once thinking about how that would affect everyone else. How do you forgive something like that? She tore us apart, for ten years, she was just so, selfish!" Dewey and Louie shared a look, having a silent conversation between themselves before Louie sighed and opened his mouth. 

"I'm still mad, madder now somehow. I said I didn't want to know why she did it and I still stand by that. Look, people can say all the nice things they want about her but at the end of the day she left us, and that all that matters. I'm sorry I don't wanna think anything nice about her but I can't! I mean, Uncle Scrooge said I had something huge in common with her earlier and I just about had a breakdown over it. I'm not- I can't-." And with two of his brothers down that meant it was Dewey's turn. 

All he did was shrug and say, "We're fine without her. If she wasn't ready for us or whatever, then that's on her but we've always been fine without her." He stopped content with his answer but then admitted, "I don't know if I'm as mad as you guys are and I may be better at thinking about her but I don't like her, I'm not sure I ever will. And honestly, I'm fine with that, you're the only parent I'll ever need, Dad." 

Donald took a moment to take all of that in before taking his boys into his arms and starting. "Boys... You're okay for feeling that stuff, I promise you're okay. You have nothing to be sorry for or ashamed of. I know she's a big deal for you, even if you don't want her to be, and I know she hurt all of you, all of us, a lot. There's nothing I or anyone else can say to make you like her and that's okay too. It's hard being mad at someone whose not here, that's why I took all of my anger out on Scrooge and that wasn't right but, I'm starting to let it go. Moving on doesn't mean forgiving. It just means letting yourself be okay again." 

"Are you okay, Dad?" Huey asked him. The triplets looked at him curiously.

He smiled at them, "I am. I can't let myself be weighed down by her choices my whole life. And neither can you three. It's okay to let yourselves move on from it." The three of them shared a look, moving on, they could do that. 

After that talk none of them really had any energy anymore but they still had a room to find so they tried to do just that. Luckily for them it seemed like the next one they looked through was the one. It was big enough that the boys could practice their magic without causing too much damage and it was also big enough to keep everything needed for their lessons. 

As their Dad started inspecting it even further the boys sat on the floor and quietly talked amongst themselves. "So... that was _something_ earlier," Dewey awkwardly stated. "You guys okay now?" If he was being honest he had known they were pretty upset over Della but that... that was unexpected. Should he be like that? He shook that thought out of his head, this was not about him. 

Huey and Louie looked at each other, "Been better but I think we'll survive." Huey replied dryly. "You okay?" 

Dewey nodded, "Yeah, actually. I meant what I said." He stared directly at his brothers, "We don't need her, we've never needed her. We have each other, we have Dad, and now we have the rest of our family, that's all we need. And that's all we'll ever need." They smiled at him and that was when he knew they agreed. Which he was really glad for, maybe that was the first step in them moving forward, accepting that fact. He sure hoped it was, he wanted to move on and he wanted to do it with his brothers. But only if they were ready too. They didn't do things without each other, he certainly wasn't gonna start now. 

With that settled the three of them looked to see what their Dad was doing and found him rummaging through some things clearly trying to act like he hadn't been listening in. They let him. "Are we good to have practice in here now?" Huey asked as he got off the floor. His brothers looked at each other before doing the same, albeit reluctantly. It had been a _long_ couple of days, they were tired.

"Yup. We'll have to move everything in here but we should probably save that for tomorrow. It's getting late, you three should head to bed. C'mon." Donald gestured his head towards the door and waited for them to agree. He could easily see how tired they had gotten and knew there was more to it than just their talk, they were definitely laying off the adventuring for a while. It would do all of them some good. 

When they got to the boys' room Louie collapsed on his bed with his hoodie still on. The others were so used to it by now that they just let him do it, it was just a Louie thing to do. Huey and Dewey could barely change into their pj's so Donald helped them into their beds, their heads hadn't even hit their pillows before they passed out. Donald watched the three of them while biting his beak and hoped that wasn't a sign for anything bad. Ack, he was being over-worried again, they were just tired from everything that's happened lately. Things were going good for this family, he couldn't let his overprotective nature get in the way of that. They just needed to rest for a while and they would be his hyperactive, excitable boys once again. And honestly, as much trouble as they could be like that he couldn't wait. 


	2. Sometimes Family is All You Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family is discussed and the search for Lena begins.

While his brothers were getting reprimanded by their Dad Louie took the opportunity to talk to their Uncle. He wanted to know how to start his business and what better way to learn that from the best businessman in the world? Not that he'd ever tell him he thought that. But Louie still had to face that fact for himself, he could lie to a lot of people but not himself. No matter how much he wanted to. And that was why he couldn't fool himself into thinking he knew what he was doing, he didn't. He didn't want to do any actual work, ugh _work_ , but he couldn't just scheme his way to the top, he needed an actual plan. That was where his Uncle came in. 

"What are ye good at?" Huh, what _was_ he good at? Why was it so hard for him to come up with an answer? Of course he was good at stuff, he had to be, he couldn't just be, bad at everything. That wasn't how people worked, and he was people. He had to be good at _something,_ he just needed to think of it. But right now he was drawing a blank, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't think of anything. That wasn't good. 

"I don't know." 

After Louie left his Uncle's office Donald came in and sat down in one of the chairs with a huff. "You'll never guess where Huey and Dewey have been."

"With Fethry ae'm assumin'?" Scrooge correctly guessed and Donald groaned. 

"Yes, we tell them to stay away and they go. And for what? Krill? What's the point?" Donald groaned again. "I love him, but why does Fethry have to be so weird?" 

"Careful, nephew, he has a lot in common with Huey." Donald gave him a look. "Ae know yew think it's different but is it? What message are we givin' the kids by sendin' oaf everyane we think is weird? Ten years ago ae thought it was a good idea but now is not then. They shouldnae have gone oaf ta see him on their own, but ae can understand the curiosity. A cousin they've never even heard o', callin' from some deep-sea laboratory? Sounds like their kinda adventure." 

Donald sighed, "You're right. This is our faults, it was just so easy to not talk to or about him, after, what happened. But we're moving past that so we have to deal with this stuff. And I certainly don't want the kids to think our love for them is conditional or that we keep them around cause they're "normal", that's not- I never wanted that." He slumped in his seat and Scrooge gave him a sympathetic look. 

"Neither o' us did, lad. That's why we have ta make this right. And fer Fethry's sake, ae cannae imagine bein' isolated like that fer ten years is easy. Ae mean, bless me bagpipes, ae was also isolated but at least ae still had Beakley. Goodness knows ae would've gone crazy withoot her, dinnae tell her that though." 

"Sure, now what do we do about Fethry?" He had a cousin to make up to darn it, and he was gonna do it. Sure, he had never really gotten along with him for too long growing up but family was family, and he was just beginning to relearn what that meant. But he also had to do it for his kid's sake, cause his Uncle was right, Huey did have a lot in common with him and he could tell something was off with him earlier. He would be dammed if he let him think something was wrong with being 'weird', he loved all of his kids just the way they were. No matter how weird that may be. Besides, who was he to judge, really? With his overly quacky voice and anger issues he wasn't exactly a poster child for normal. 

No one in their family was, that was made them so great. Sometimes it was so easy to forget that. 

But now there was really no reason for him to. His boys were in a stable environment, he didn't have to spend all his time worrying about them, about their financial situation. He could finally relax a bit. But that meant digging things like the whole Fethry situation up, but it needed to be dug up ~~along with other things~~. One problem at a time. "We could call him?" Donald suggested after a few minutes had gone by in complete silence. "He did call you earlier." He pointed out. 

"Ae remember." Scrooge started thinking about it which left Donald to his own thoughts once again. He really fell out of touch with a lot of people, didn't he? And sure, he managed to get back in touch with two of them, their latest group call being only a few days ago, but there was still a bunch of them to go. Luckily he was up to the challenge. He did miss his old pals a whole lot. "It's a start ta be sure. Maybe ae can try and offer him a job above land." 

"That sounds great, Uncle Scrooge." 

What was he good at? Louie wondered as he wondered the mansion. It had been at least thirty minutes and he still wasn't able to come up with an answer. And he was getting more worried about it by the second. If he couldn't come up with anything what did that say about him? That he had some sort of problem with himself? Well, he did but he wasn't gonna _admit_ it. Not unless he had to. 

"Hey Louie." And now he might have to. What could he say? He had a problem with telling his brothers everything. 

He nodded in acknowledgment. "Hey. Can I ask you a weird question?" He continued at Huey's nod, "What am I good at? I went to Uncle Scrooge for advice with starting my business and he asked me what I was good at. I need an outsider opinion." Not technically a lie, he wasn't coming up with anything himself. 

Huey hummed, "Let me think. Well, you're the best cook in our immediate family, and your baking is just as good. You've been helping Dad with his taxes since we were five, you've always been really good with numbers. Any of that help you out?" 

It did actually, he hadn't even thought about that stuff. "Yeah, it does, thanks, Hue. Now, what's up with you?" He asked, easily being able to read his brother. Huey sighed, 

"I'm weird, like Fethry. He got sent away, what if something like that happens to me? I like being who I am but I don't wanna be sent away for it. I don't ever wanna be away from any of you, even if I'm different." 

"Dude, no one in this family is normal." Louie flatly replied making Huey smile. "They're not gonna send you away, they made a mistake ten years ago but Dad's stupid protective over us, do you really think he'd do something like that? Or let Scrooge do something like that? And even if both of those things somehow happened there is _no way_ Dewey and I would let them, you're stuck here." Huey's smile grew even wider and he hugged his brother. He had been so worried about that ever since he and Dewey got back, and Louie had made him feel better in less than five minutes, how could he think he wasn't good at anything? Huey didn't know, but he hoped he figured out otherwise. 

"Louie's right." A voice said from behind them making them turn to see it was their Dad looking at them guilty. "About all of that. Nobody else is getting sent away, ever. I am so sorry we made you think otherwise, I hope you can forgive us." Donald dropped down to their level and Huey gave him a hug, now he felt even better. 

"I can. I do. I just wanted to hear that you guys would always love me." 

Donald kissed his head, "We will. And you'll be happy to know that we just got off the phone with Fethry. We talked, about _everything_ , and though we haven't fixed everything it's a start. Scrooge even offered him a job at the bin so we'll be seeing more of him, which is good. When I said this family had been apart for too long I meant _all_ of us, and it's time I start doing something about it." His boys smiled at him and that was the end of it for the moment.

Or so he thought, little did they know their conversation was being overheard from someone who was missing someone herself. 

* * *

Webby sighed as she slumped down in the vent she was currently in. Been apart for too long, that's how she felt about Lena. There had to be a way to get her back there just had to, but how? Probably something magical, she was made of the stuff after all. But how could Webby use that? She didn't know magic, much as she wanted to, and even if she did learn it it wasn't in her blood, she would only be able to do so much. It was hopeless... 

No! She couldn't think like that, Lena was counting on her she had to come up with _something_! If she couldn't use magic she would just have to find someone who could, wait... She knew people with magic, four of them! She could ask them for help! Now all she had to do was find them, that shouldn't be too hard she was already in the vents. But... would they _want_ to help her? Oh who was she trying to fool of course they would! They were family after all. Family helped each other, always. 

"What're you good at?" Dewey questioned his little brother who nodded in confirmation. "Umm let's see, oh! You're good with art stuff, like drawing and painting. And you're _really_ good at finding treasure and expensive stuff. Why dewey'ya ask?"

"Research." Dewey made a face. "Yeah, I know. But Uncle Scrooge asked and I dunno I just... wanted to know what you guys thought."

"Meaning you couldn't come up with anything on your own." Louie gaped at him then sighed. What could he say, he knew his brothers well. The only thing he didn't know was why Louie couldn't come up with anything on his own. He was great! And everyone around him knew it. Maybe it was just something he had to figure out on his own, no matter how much Dewey wanted to help. Well, at least he was asking about it, that was good. He was usually bad about that, it was like he thought he shouldn't ask for help or something. Which was stupid, really stupid. 

He was about to say something about it when a noise came from the vents, the two of them looked at each other then at it in scared confusion. They slowly got up out of their spots and raised their arms defensively as the noises started to get closer. The door behind them suddenly opened and they looked to see it was Huey raising an eyebrow, "Did you guys hear that?" They were about to answer when the vent popped open and Webby appeared. 

"Guys, I need your help." 

The four of them moved to the floor as Webby started explaining, "I miss Lena, I miss her so much and I hate that she's who knows where and I don't know how to get her back. It's my fault she's there-" The boys started to protest. "It is! I can't just leave her there, I have to do _something_! And I need help, I know you guys probably don't like her but don't you know what it's like to be separated from each other, how much that hurts?" 

"It's hard to be separate from someone when you can feel their energy literally all the time." Dewey stated and his brothers nodded. "But you're our sister and we'd do anything for you. So, what can we do?" 

Webby faltered, "I don't know." 

"Then we need Dad." 

Their Dad turned out to be out in houseboat which looked emptier than usual. The boys looked at each other, did that mean he was finally moving into the mansion? They sure hoped so. But they could ask later, right now they had a mission. "Dad?" Huey got his attention. "Can we talk to you about something?" Donald turned around and smiled at them. 

"Of course you can. Come sit down." The kids quickly clambered on the couch. "Now, what's going on?" 

Louie nudged Webby, "I wanna look for Lena, but I don't know how. The boys suggested we come to you, so here we are! If you're too busy to help I get it, I can always find another way if that's the case, I know you're trying to make up with Fethry and that stuff like that takes up a lot of time so it's okay if you are. But I wanted to ask if you could help anyway. Sorry if that's too much to ask." She stumbled out. The others were aware she still wasn't convinced of her place in the family and it made them pretty upset, after everything they'd been through she was definitely one of them. They had to do something to fix that. 

"She also thinks it's her fault she's there." Dewey interjected making Webby glare at him. 

Donald looked at her, "It's not your fault, it's no one's fault but Magica's. And I'm never too busy for you kids, especially not for something like this. This is a big deal for you, Webs, so it's a big deal for me too. I'm happy to help, I just need to finish moving back into the mansion first, if that's okay? I should be done by today. Then all of us can figure this out." 

Webby smiled brightly, "Okay, Uncle Donald." She got up to give him a hug as the boys smiled then shared a look with each other. 

"So you _are_ moving back in?" Huey asked to confirm. 

"Yea, I am. I figure now's the right time, with all the moving on and stuff." He gave them a smile and they rushed forward to join the hug. And as Donald held all of them he knew there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to keep these four happy and safe. 

After that the kids left the houseboat so Donald could get back to work. As they walked Louie thought about the stuff his brothers said when he asked them what he was good at, and how none of it pertained to adventuring. The thing their family was known for. Everyone else brought something to it, but what did he? The last one they went one he completely messed it up for everyone. And sure, he didn't particularly like it, but he liked being with his family. ~~And making sure they were safe.~~

The others had noticed how quiet he had gotten and shared a look, he had been acting off all day and they wanted to know why. Sure, two of them had some idea but they also had a feeling there was more to it than that. They wanted to know what, but they also didn't want to push it. Louie would talk to them eventually, they knew he would, that didn't make waiting any easier. Then again he had been dodging the topic, maybe he needed a little push. "Lou, what's up with you?" Dewey asked making him jump out of his thoughts. "You've been off all day, talk to us." 

He sighed, "I dunno, ever since our last adventure I've been struggling, and not just cause I needed a break. I don't know where I fit in on them, what _I_ bring. I've been trying to figure it out but, no luck." 

"Well, Uncle Scrooge said you could see angles right?" Huey tried to suggest. 

"Yeah but I don't know how to do that. All I'm really good at is talking, and what good does that do when it really matters? Like when we're backed up against a wall or something you all have a way out of it, I don't." The others tried to think of an answer and it was surprisingly Webby who came up with one. 

"I'd argue that talking is a form of fighting, just with your mouth instead of your fists. Everyone has a different style of doing things and if one of those things was missing we wouldn't be the same. What if talking _is_ what you bring?" 

Louie shook his head, "All it does is get us in trouble." 

Dewey scoffed, "Your talking has gotten us out of trouble more times than I can count. Besides, trouble's who we are, why see it as a bad thing?" Louie opened his mouth to answer but found he couldn't. Dewey had a point, they could never go more than a day without getting into trouble and he had gotten them out of it plenty of times, but he had also gotten them into it just as many. But that was when his brothers came in and helped him, that was just how the three of them worked. And as long as that was true maybe trouble wasn't so bad. And for now if talking was all he brought, well maybe that wasn't so bad either. 

* * *

How were they going to find Lena? Donald asked himself as he opened his room's door. Was there even a spell for something like this? Wait, maybe there was someone who knew, although saying that... No, it was worth asking, his friends knew a lot about magic, they had to know something about this. But he would have to wait to ask them, once he got on the phone with them he tended to get... distracted and he still had to finish moving in. He was almost done, he just had a few more things to move in and then his closet to fix up. That didn't mean it wouldn't take a while though. 

But it was all worth it, he was finally going to be near his family again. And that's what this was all about. Even if he had to make about a thousand trips from there to the houseboat. Geez, he didn't think he had _that_ much stuff. He didn't even know where he got most of it. But somehow his room on the houseboat was full of it. Well, he had been a lot of places in his life, and he had a lot of people in his life, so it made sense he had a lot of things. If he was being honest he was glad he had all those things, even if they made moving harder. The only thing he worried about was if he had enough space for everything. Well, if it came down to it he could just leave some stuff on the houseboat, not like that was going anywhere. _Again_ , not like it was going anywhere again. 

He quickly knocked on wood, he was _not_ taking any chances. Especially not right after the shadow war happened, he had just finished fixing it up and he was not doing it again. 

As he looked for a place to put a present the boys had gotten him for his birthday one year, a hat that said 'World's Best Dad', -he still got choked up when he thought about that memory- he heard a knock at the door and a voice ask for him. Louie, he supplied. 

"Come in, kiddo." The door opened and Louie walked in, then immediately sat on his bed. "What's up? Are you ready to talk about what's been bothering you?" He wasn't gonna push it if he wasn't, but he really hoped he was. Louie had a habit of bottling everything up until it consumed him and he was trying really hard to break him from it. He knew how damaging it could be. And he also knew the boys had made a pact a long time ago to not have secrets between them, but whenever something was wrong with Louie he got around it by saying something was wrong but never elaborating. He was good as seeing loopholes, Donald would give him that. 

"Yeah, I guess. I mean I have somewhat with my siblings and I guess that part's resolved for now. But there's something else, earlier today I couldn't figure out what I was good at, and it really freaked me out. I knew there was _something_ but not what. I have a better idea now but it's bugging me that I couldn't think of something on my own." Louie looked down and sighed, a sign this was really bugging him. 

"Well, that's what family's for: seeing things you can't, even about yourself." Because of course he would go to his brothers about something like this, they all would. He was glad they had such a strong support system in each other, and he would be there in the rare times it wasn't enough. 

Louie smiled at him, "Yeah that's true, thanks, Dad. Not that their advice wasn't enough, but what do you think I'm good at?" 

Donald didn't even have to think about that, "You're a good brother, a good kid, you're very loyal. But most important you're good at being you and who you are is great." Louie's smile got brighter and he raced to hug his Dad, that was what he had been looking for: that he was good, that his family thought he was good. When he couldn't think of anything earlier he thought it meant that he was bad but now he knew he wasn't. Maybe his problems with himself were unfounded, if his family thought he was great, he was great. End of discussion. 

Louie left when he saw how much his Dad still had to do and went to find his siblings. Donald, meanwhile, got back to work. During their talk he had managed to move the last few things in so now all he had to do was the closet. Oh boy, _that_ would be fun. 

He couldn't put it off anymore, he had to do it now before he never did it. So with a sigh he opened it up and prepared to do the spell, something like this would take a lot of energy so he planned to be done for the day afterward. First he needed to do a transfer spell, one that could handle expansion. Neither of his closets had ever been big enough to hold all his magic stuff, but that was one of the reasons why magic was great. It could literally do _anything_ he set his mind to. Well, enough anything for him to be satisfied with anyway. 

He flipped through one of his spell books until he came across the spell he was looking for and then got to work,

" _Hinc transire ad ista prior_

_Daturos esse spatium_

_Extendam implere omnem hanc_

_Certe quamdiu manet, quia quod vis ut faciam_!" And with that the spell was complete and the closet had become his new library. He took a breather for a few minutes then set to work on the next thing, a concealing charm. If he didn't do that someone might accidentally go in there and who knew what would happen then? No, it was definitely safer to have it concealed. Thankfully the charm was a lot less energy-depleting, it didn't even require words. He closed the closet door and cast the charm then plopped down on his bed with a sigh. Wait, there was still something else he had to do. 

He dug through his bedside table drawer until he pulled out his phone and called the very people he hoped could help him. If they couldn't... no, he would figure something else out, Webby was counting on him and he wasn't good for a lot of things but he was for magic. They picked up after a couple of rings and after exchanging pleasantries he told them the reason he called, "Look I'm going to be frank with you, this is a strange situation. During the fight with Magica Webby's friend Lena sorta disappeared? I don't know how else to explain it, Scrooge knows more about it than I do. But the kids said she was some sort of shadow of Magica? And now she's just, gone, and we don't know where she could've gone or how to get her back." 

Panchito hummed, "Donald, have you ever heard of the Shadow Realm?" The Shadow Realm. It sounded vaguely familiar however he didn't know anything about it. But he intended to find out. Webby was counting on him, Lena was counting on them, he wasn't going to let either of them down. 

"Tell me everything you know." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translation of the spell: move these things from their former place to here  
> give them some space to belong  
> stretch this room to fill it all  
> and make sure it stays for as long as I want  
> (sorry if it's not exact, am using google translate)


	3. Realms and Bonds, Both are Complicated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discoveries are made and questions are raised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> moved to teens and up cause Louie cusses in this chapter.

"The Shadow Realm- a plane of existence that is parallel to our own. Things or people stuck there wonder a darkened version of reality that they can't interact with. There are magical rituals that could allow communication between the two worlds, but not without risks." Donald explained to the rest of his family who were all sat around the den. He had learned more about it of course, but that was basic information. A good two hours last night was spent on the phone with his friends talking about that stuff, among other things. Like meeting up soon, something Donald really wanted to make sure happened. But not until they figured this out first. 

"So Lena could be there?" Webby excitedly asked. 

"Panchito said when a bond is strong enough and has a magical connection that someone can be transported there against the caster wishes. So if you two have a magical emblem or something like that she could've gone there when Magica tried to absorb her into her shadow, as Uncle Scrooge put it, or after she was defeated. If Lena's anywhere, it's there." 

Webby gestured to her wrist where a well-worn handmade bracelet was, "I made us friendship bracelets!" She became hesitant. "But do you think our friendship is strong enough?" 

"There's only one way to find out." The boys perked up, knowing what that meant. They were about to witness, and possibly be apart of, their first ritual. "But like I said, there are risks. We could accidentally give power to bad spirits so we have to be really careful." 

The boys looked at each other, "What do we have to do?" 

As Donald did a high-level protection spell, one only the most powerful sorcerers could do -he wasn't taking any risks with his family involved- the others got what he and the boys would need for the ritual. Scrooge wasn't sure about the boys participating in it but Donald assured him they were powerful enough to handle it and he trusted him, especially with their wellbeing. He was the one who knew them and what they were capable of best. Once they did that and Donald was done the ritual began, the boys weren't entirely sure what to do so they just followed their Dad's lead. 

Donald started lighting the candles circling him and his boys as he started to chant, "Open communication between our world and the spirit one, 

Let us speak to those who are there." He grabbed the boys' hands and they did the same with each other as all four of them repeated what Donald just said. They did this a couple of times until a greenish shadow started to appear in the middle of their circle. Webby looked on hopefully as it began to take form, trying not to let tears cloud her eyes. When it finished forming she couldn't help but let out a cheerful but slightly disbelieving,

"Lena?" The shadow quickly looked at her. 

"Webby? How can you see me?" She noticed the others. "Oh. Yeah, that would explain it." 

Huey looked at her, "You're not surprised we're doing magic?" 

Lena turned sheepish, "I've sorta been watching you guys from Webby's shadow. Not like I have anything else to do." 

"We're working on that," Donald promised, though he wasn't sure how well she would hear. To his surprise it looked to be pretty well. "Now that we know where you are, we're going to bring you back."

"What about Magica?" 

Scrooge answered that one, "We dinnae know where she is. We're left ta assume she's back where she was befer. She'll be no danger ta ye, lass, we'll make sure o' it. Ae promised yew a place in this family and a place yew'll have! Ae dinnae break my promises." Donald gave him a look. "Not the time, Donald." 

"You've been in my shadow this whole time?" Webby quietly asked. "I mean I guess _something_ felt different but... how is that even possible?" She reached out like she wanted to grab Lena's hand but stopped herself when she realized that wouldn't be possible. Donald gave Lena a slight nudging motion and she hesitantly reached her hand out, trying not to get too hopeful. That was instantly squashed the moment she touched Webby's hand however. 

"S'not like I was gonna leave you, pink. You've done so much for me, even when I didn't deserve it. I'm sorry for everything I've done." 

"You did what you had to, Lena, none of us blame you." Mrs. Beakley assured her. "You were in a bad situation, and despite that you managed to find someone to care about besides yourself. That takes a lot of strength. I can assure you you absolutely deserve everything Webby's done for you, even if you don't feel like it." Lena tried not to smile at that, something everyone else noticed. They all knew Mrs. Beakley was right, but it was clear that when they got her back Lena was gonna have a lot of recovering to do. 

After that Donald noticed the boys getting weary and knew they had to end the spell. He reluctantly told the others, the boys tried to protest for Webby's sake but he remained firm. They couldn't keep going or they'd exhaust themselves. Besides, it seemed like Webby got it anyway, she hugged Lena and told her she'd see her soon. Donald gave Lena one last reassuring smile before ending the ritual. As he did that the boys looked at Webby and she smiled at them, letting them know she was okay, much to their relieves. They had wanted to give her more time but they weren't sure they could keep going. Their Dad was right, as he usually was, they were getting tired. Magic took a lot of energy, especially first-time magic. They would get better but for now they were done. 

"Well, now that we know for sure she's there I know how to get her back." 

"How?" Scrooge asked and Donald held out a book, 

"With this." Everyone gathered around the table as Donald opened it up to a certain page, "This is a spell to pull things from a realm, I'll have to modify it a bit but it should work." 

Dewey perked up, "So all we have to do is say this spell and she's free? Sounds too good to be true."

"Pro tip: if it sounds too good to be true, it is." Louie replied. 

Donald nodded, "Right, if we aren't too careful we could also pull something dangerous from that realm. And I have to find a way to give her a permanent form, so that she doesn't ever go _back_ there. It'll take a few days to be sure..." As Donald continued the boys started to sink further into the couch, slowly realizing just how drained they were. They did what they did every time that happened and drew on each others' power. They didn't know they were doing it though, it was just reflex at this point. But it did make them feel better, it seemed that throughout everything their bond had only gotten stronger. And that made them happy, even if they were still confused about the whole concept. 

They would figure it out, eventually. Until then they would just have to be confused together. 

* * *

That night the boys had gone to bed earlier, to the surprise of no one, and slept for the entirety of it. So the next morning they were chock-full of energy ready to take on the day, or two of them were at least. If Louie had his way he would get to sleep longer, but he didn't- his brothers were just too good at talking him into things, like waking up when he didn't want to. He was over it by the time breakfast was done. 

The boys thought about what to do for that day- including a magic lesson but concluded that their Dad was too busy. They would wait until he figured out the whole Lena situation to ask him for one. But that left them with nothing to do. "Ugh, I'm so bored." Dewey complained as they hung around their room. 

"We could look through our spellbooks," Louie suggested but Dewey shot it down. 

"We already did all the spells we could." 

Huey sighed as he sat up in his bed, "That's our problem, we're too smart for our own good." It was true they could always look through them again but there really wasn't any point. They would just get tempted to do things beyond their skill level and that wouldn't end well. "Maybe we can go see what's on TV?" 

"Seen it all." Louie responded. 

"Well, what if we play a game? It's been a while since we've played the new Mario Kart." It was Dewey's turn to suggest. 

"That's cause last time you got super pissed." 

He hit the bottom of Huey's bunk. "I hate cheese land! It's so stupid!" 

Louie made a tch noise, "It's better than fucking moo-moo land." 

"Don't cuss." Huey reprimanded, he didn't have to see his brother's face to know he was silently mocking him. He threw a pillow at him, which started a pillow fight between the three of them. Well, at least they had something to do now. 

It ended after a few minutes and they were left breathless on the floor, with feathers in the air and on the floor around them. Dewey blew one off his face annoyedly which made his brothers laugh, which in turn made him laugh. They were usually the best at that. Once the laughing died down their door flew open and they looked at it unsurprised. "Hey Webby."

"Hi guys!" She looked around the room. "What'd I miss?" The boys looked at each other mischievously then each threw a pillow at her, starting up the fight once again. 

Donald ran his hand through his head feathers as he worked on modifying the spell. It wasn't like it was too hard, it was just time-consuming. He started on it last night after the kids went to bed and barely got any of it done before he crashed himself. Waking up the next morning was fun.

So now he had to do most of it today and that was something he wasn't particularly looking forward to. Spell-modification was the _worst_. And in the past he had always had company when he was doing it, which to be fair made it take even longer. At least it was quiet in this part of the mansion, the part the boys were in. His boys and quiet were things that did not mix. He heard a noise from down the hall and smiled, that was better. Besides, he wasn't so sure quiet would've helped him, he was so used to it being loud that anything less was unnerving. 

With that in mind, and keeping an ear on the noise in case it got too loud, he got back to work and looked at the spell. How to swap people for thing? Maybe if he thought of the person as a thing? No, that wouldn't work, and was wrong on so many levels. Lena was definitely a person, even if she was made from a shadow. So then how? Wait, he had it! If he had the intent to pull her from there he should be able to! But getting her to stay was another story... Was there a spell to make a shadow permanent? There had to be, he just had to find it. And if he couldn't he would just have to make one up. 

It wasn't something he did a lot, that was something akin to dark magic users and he wasn't interested in being anything like that. But sometimes the situation called for it, he just hoped this wasn't one of them. Hmmm, maybe if there wasn't a spell for that there was one to give her a body. Something similar to what Magica did but without her being tied to anything. He wanted to do more than just bring her back permanently, he wanted to give her her freedom. 

The second pillow fight ended once Huey had almost gotten hit in the face with a zipper- only stopped by his immediate younger brother's quick action. Dewey released his magic's hold on the pillow and it dropped down on the floor as Webby apologized. "Next time let's use safer pillows." Huey said with a soothing smile, he knew it was an accident and wasn't upset. The same couldn't be said for his brothers however. But he gave them a look and they dropped theirs. They were all protective over each other so he understood their feelings, plus he could quite literally feel them, but this wasn't a time he needed to be protected. Webby wouldn't intentionally hurt them. 

"How did you do that?" She curiously asked as soon as tensions died down. 

Dewey looked at her, "I dunno I just did, it. Levitating was one of the first things we learned, it's kinda reflex at this point." 

Huey hummed, "That was more of telekinesis than anything, which, with kinesis being your specialty, would also be reflex." Dewey nodded in agreement and Webby looked at them questioningly. "Oh, our specialty is like the type of magic we're best at and are drawn to. Dewey's is kinesis, mine is healing magic, and Louie's is defensive magic. And it's also how we found out we're sorcerers, only sorcerers have a specialty according to our Dad." 

"Cool! I have so many questions about magic, the books I was able to sneak in here only said so much. It's something I've always been interested in, but with Uncle Scrooge previously hating it I was sure I'd never learned too much." 

The boys looked at each other, "Webby, have you seen our Dad's library?" She shook her head. "Come on, let's go see if we can go in right now." And with that, they were off to Donald's room. Once they got there they knocked on the door and barely waited for the 'come in' before doing so, the boys knew he wouldn't mind, he never did in the past. 

"Hey Dad. How's the spell thingy going?" Dewey asked as the kids looked around the room, this being the first time they had been in there since Donald moved in. 

Donald stopped what he was doing to give them his full attention, "Pretty good, I'm almost done in fact. What's up?" 

"We were wondering if we could show Webby your library." Huey answered and Donald honestly wondered what had taken her so long to ask. She was just as interested in magic as the boys were and he was sure that as soon as she knew they had it she would want to know all she could. Maybe with Lena being gone it was just hard for her to think about, which meant she was finally getting better. And that did make sense, they were doing something about it now and she knew she would get to see her soon. 

So he answered, "Sure, just be careful in there, alright? And no going near stuff that's locked or sealed, it's like that for a reason." The kids readily agreed so he got up and opened it. After they went in he got back to work while leaving the door open to keep an eye on them. He trusted them but also knew the kind of trouble they could get into, intentional or not. Plus, they might need him for something. 

He wasn't lying to them about almost being done, he had been looking through books for hours but he was finally onto a lead. There was something Ozahn once told him about body spells, and creating one, that he had forgotten about until he read something in one of the books: 'It takes a lot of energy to make a body from nothing and for it to be sustainable, and it takes a special kind of magic user to do it. But if you can there's only one true way to, an amulet of great power.' Which was how Magica did it, now he needed to figure it out. Where could he get an amulet like that? Oh he knew one place, but he wasn't sure he liked it. 

* * *

As soon as the kids were in the library Webby was eagerly going through things. The boys knew she would probably want to hang out in there for a while so they got comfortable. Until they saw things they were interested in. They could never get enough of their Dad's library, it was just too exciting. Huey kept an eye on his brothers as he searched for a certain region of the library, he knew they wouldn't go against their Dad's rule, it was just in his nature to do that. But their bond could probably tell him if they were up to no good, maybe, he wasn't sure of the full extent of it. 

Which was why he wanted to find this region, he really wanted answers. "Huey!" Looked like those answers would have to wait. 

"Yeah?" He questioned as he stepped into the aisle, looking for the source of the shout. Louie poked his head out from an aisle a few lanes down. 

"What do I do if my khopesh is floating in front of me?" 

Huey blinked, "I'm sorry, what?" He made his way over to his brother and sure enough the khopesh was there, floating. He poked it and it slightly moved but didn't fall. "Umm, how is it doing that?" 

"That's what I wanna know! It just showed up outta nowhere. Should we get Dad?" That was a good idea, but, he was busy, they could handle it themselves. After he told his brother that he shrugged and went to grab it. He was able to and pulled it down, sharing a confused look with his brother as he did so. He turned it over in his hand as he looked for anything unusual but didn't find anything. "Maybe it missed me." He suggested with a smirk. 

Huey looked at it, "Is it magic? I mean, I know it bonded to you but... last I checked it didn't teleport. Maybe it became able to when it bonded with you?" 

Louie shrugged again, "Good enough for me. So, what are you up to?" He asked putting the khopesh in the back of his hoodie. "Looking for anything in particular or...?" He added on knowingly. 

"I'm trying to see if we missed anything the last time we were in here. You can't honestly say you aren't still curious about it, Lou." 

"Curious about what?" A voice asked from behind them. They didn't have to turn around to know who it was. 

"Our bond." Huey answered at the same time as Louie said, "Dude, you just missed the most amazing thing!" Dewey perked up at that and asked for details. Once Louie was done explaining he turned to Huey with a puzzled look. 

"What about our bond? Didn't we already check everything in here for information?" 

"Well, maybe, but it doesn't hurt to check again. _Something_ has to have the answers, we can't be the only ones with this type of connection! That just doesn't make any sense!" Huey started pacing and his brothers shared a look, they knew where this was going. 

"Huey!" They called to get him to stop, which he did. "We'll figure this out, we just have to figure out how. Maybe there is something in here and we just haven't found it yet! I mean, what else can we do? Look, the point I'm trying to make is that we'll solve this and we'll do it together, even if it takes some time. And if it turns out that we are the only ones with this bond, would that be so bad?" Dewey asked. 

Huey smiled at them, "No, of course not." 

Meanwhile Donald had entered the library himself looking for a certain pink-bowed girl. He hated to ask her about Magica's amulet but knew he unfortunely didn't have a choice. He didn't know where else to get one that powerful. And he really hated that he had to bring Lena back with it, he couldn't imagine what she put her through, it made his blood boil just thinking about it. He would modify it, find a way to get rid of Magica's energy and replace it with his own, and he would make sure the only person that had access to it was her. It was all he really could do. 

He found Webby looking through a book on runes and smiled before getting her attention. He sat next to her and wondered how he could best begin this, before realizing there was no right way, he just had to do it. "Webby, I need to ask you something, something really important." He started. 

"Is it about Magica's amulet?" He looked at her surprised and she became sheepish, "I've been looking into different kinds of magic, specifically creation, and learned you need a great source of power to do it." She pulled something out of her skirt pocket. "I found it in the money bin after everything happened. I wanted to get rid of it, but it was the only thing I had left of Lena. Good thing I kept it, huh?"

Donald rubbed her head, "Great thing. Now I have everything I need to bring her back." Webby looked at him hopefully and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, this had to work, she would be crushed if it didn't. And she was his kid just as much as the boys were, he never wanted her to feel that way. The moment was then broken up by a noise coming from further in the library. Donald sighed and got up, just in time to hear the 'we're okay!', he better go see what happened. 

He left Webby to the books and went to do so, finding his boys messing with an artifact. He quickly took it from them before something else could happen. "In our defensive, this wasn't locked up." Dewey said. 

"Still doesn't mean you can't be hurt." He placed it back to where it was before and shooed them away from the section. "Louie, why do you have your khopesh?" They filled him in on what happened a few minutes ago and he became thoughtful. "Boys, I think it's time for another magic lesson." 

They stayed in the library, even though their new magic room was all set up, it was easier this way. Besides, this lesson didn't require actual magic, it was more informational than application. Either way it was something they could stand to know, if nothing else than to clear up any confusion. "So when something bonds to you it gains a few... abilities, like teleporting. But it usually only does that when it feels like you need it, or if it senses you're in danger." The boys shared a look. 

"Maybe Lena's hovering in Webby's shadow and it's sensing her?" Huey suggested. "But then why would it think she's dangerous?" 

"She's not the only thing in the Shadow Realm." Donald reminded them. "And more we dabble with shadow magic the more tangible they become. Thankfully we're almost done with it." 

"Why's shadow magic so bad?" Dewey asked and Donald sighed. 

"The magic itself isn't, but the people who use it are dark magic users, people like Magica. But we need to remember Lena isn't like her, if she still wants to use magic at all. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't. She's been through a lot and when she gets back we need to keep that in mind, okay?" The boys nodded and he smiled at them. "Alright, back to what we were talking about before. Some other things you need to know about things bonding to you: if it's magical it can give you a boost in power, but that's not always a good thing. The power level you're at is one your body can handle, any more could have serious consequences. Also, the artifact chooses you, you don't choose it. And trying to force it never ends well. It could happen at some point in your life, and it also couldn't, that's just how these things go." 

Louie started fidgeting with it, "Is there something I need to know about once it's bonded to me? Like is there something I might do to make it hate me all of a sudden?" 

"As long as you don't try to get rid of it or anything you're good. There are other abilities it can get, you know how your specialty is defensive powers, it can become an extension of that. And it can make those powers stronger, even more so than a defense artifact could. A magical bond between anything is a strong thing, even people." Donald added with a pointed look. The boys timidly smiled at him. 

Dewey turned to him with a look Donald had never really see on him before, "Do you still know nothing about ours?" 

He sighed again, "Unfortunately yes, but I still know it's a good thing." And that was the truth, over the years he had been looking into it but had found nothing so far. But he knew with every fiber of his being that it was something good, call it parental intuition. It was something involving his boys, mysterious as it was it couldn't be anything bad. He just wondered what it _could_ be. 

Whatever it was they would figure out, together. 


	4. Reunions Bring Feelings- Both Old and New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reunion is had, for more than one person and the family learns more about Donald.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys you have no idea how long I've been waiting to write this chapter. Also, no idea if I mentioned this in the last story but José's name is pronounced the Brazilian way.

With the plans to free Lena finalized Donald decided a little break was in order- something the other adults completely agreed with. He also decided to kill two birds with one stone and use the opportunity to meet up with his friends, it was a few years overdue. They had meant to fly up over the years, but, things just kept getting in the way. But now they were finally meeting up again, the best part was it was a complete surprise to the boys, they had no idea what was coming. 

He knew they would be excited for it though, they loved Panchito and José. Something else that had happened over the years was that every time those two called him his boys **had** to talk to them. Honestly, it still warmed his heart every time it happened. 

"Kids, I've got a dark family secret." He said in response to Louie, really trying to ham the whole thing up. "I."

"Yeah?"

"Was one of The Three Callaberos." The kids 'ohed' and acted like they knew what he was talking about until Dewey admitted he didn't. Donald wasn't surprised, he had never actually mentioned what their little group called themselves. From all the stories he told it never came up. The boys were always so excited to hear the actual stories that they didn't think to ask for little details like that. 

Donald narrowed his eyes as his Uncle 'explained' what The Three Callaberos were. He wasn't technically wrong, they were a garage band but they also did _so_ much more. He couldn't blame his Uncle for not explaining that part though, he didn't know. Donald hadn't gotten around to telling him yet. Something told him this trip would fix that. He was broken out of his thoughts by a plane flying overhead and grinned, leave it to José to know how to make an entrance. But then where was...? 

He heard the tell-tale strum of a guitar from a few feet beside him. Nevermind. 

The two of them landed in front of him and he grinned widely as he rushed to greet them. The three of them did their handshake, along with other things, and finished it off with their customary, "Squawk, crow, quack. I got your back!" Which broke the boys out of the trance they had been in since they first saw the plane. It was them, it was actually them! They hadn't seen them in years! 

"Tio Panchito! Tio José!" They called as they ran over. Panchito swiftly picked them into a tight hug, 

"¡Mis sobrinos!" He yelled excitedly, swinging them around. 

"Ei, Panchito, don't hog them, ávido." José quickly grabbed them from him into his own hug as Donald watched the whole thing with tears in his eyes, this had gone exactly as he had hoped. Once José put them down they turned to their Dad, 

"Why didn't you tell us they were coming!"

Donald grinned, "I wanted it to be a surprise." He turned to his friends, "Okay, we have a lot to catch up on but first," He brought them over to Webby. "Meet Webby, my newest kid." Webby, who had been vibrating since she saw how excited the boys were, excitedly shook both of their hands. 

"Ah Webby, Donal's told us so much about you. Is it true you know how to use a grappling hook?" José curiously asked. 

She nodded, "My Granny taught me!" 

José also nodded, "Good, it is a good skill to have." 

"No." Donald said before the boys could ask him. They were _not_ going near a grappling hook. Ever. He could only see it ending one way. He then clasped his hands together, hoping to get their minds off of it, "So, how 'bout some food? Scrooge'll pay." He added with a smirk making his Uncle glare at him. 

"Ae most certainly will not. And yew've got a lot of explannin' ta do, Nephew, since when do the lads know yer friends?" Donald told him the whole story as the eight of them made their way to a restaurant, his friends chiming in every now and then. He was careful in how he talked about some of it, he knew the whole 'some-thing-messing-with-Louie's-dreams' still really upset the boys, it upset him too. But, they were all better at talking about now than a few years ago so that was good. By the time he finished up they had gotten to the restaurant and were all settling down to eat. 

"You would not believe how many points I had to cash in for this," José said as they waited for their waitress. "But, it was worth it! I get to see meus amigos, meus sobrinhos, and we finally got to meet this adorável jovem. Oh! And you too, Scrooge." He added on making Scrooge cross his arms with a 'harrumph!'. The others ignored him. 

"I am very excited for this reunion, and to be away from all the birthday parties. There were a lot of birthday parties." Panchito said darkly; his friends chuckled. "But mostly I am excited to see you five again, it has been waaay too long! Niños, you have to show us how much you have progressed with your magic. You have got the best teacher after all." He nudged Donald who attempted to brush off the praise. The boys agreed to both those things which made Donald stop. "See, they think so."

"They're biased." He deadpanned. 

Dewey shook his head, "Just 'cause you're our Dad doesn't mean we're biased."

"That's the very definition of it." He glared at his older brother who ignored him and continued, "But it is true, you're the best teacher we could've asked for, Dad." Before Donald could say anything to that their waitress came and took their orders. There was something off about her but he couldn't put his finger on it. Oh well, it probably wasn't important. 

They talked more as they waited for the food to come, mostly about nothing in particular until the topic got to the Callaberos old adventures. Something the kids were immediately interested in, and something Scrooge had to scoff at. "Yew were a garage band, what kind o' adventures could ye get inta?" 

José and Panchito looked at Donald, "Does he know about Acapulco?" 

Donald scoffed himself, "The boys don't even know about Acapulco." He shook his head with a smile, "But man, what a crazy night." He suddenly remembered the kids were there and were looking at him expectantly. "Maybe when you're older, _much_ older." He searched his head for one of their kid-friendly adventures so he could prove his Uncle wrong. It wasn't a pride thing or something like that, he just hated how little Scrooge thought of his friends. Something else that would need fixing this trip. 

"Hmm, that is probably for the best. Oh! What about Paratavia? And the Ring of Valor?" The kids looked interested in that so Panchito continued, "See the funny thing was we weren't even looking for it..."

* * *

".... And the Paratavian officials asked us to never return." Panchito concluded as their food got there. "Did we listen? That is a story for another time. Let's eat!" Everyone dug in and were pleasantly surprised by just how good the food was. Except one that was. "I've had better." 

José rolled his eyes, "We can't all be 'master chefs', Panchi." 

"You can when you are me." Was all he replied. 

Louie looked up from his phone, "I don't know, Tio Panchito, I'm a pretty good cook and I'm not you. Don't know where I got it from though..." Donald gave him a mock glare and he snickered. 

"I'm not that bad!" Donald protested, looking to his friends for backup. They looked away and acted like they were suddenly interested in other things which made him roll his eyes. "So I've burnt a few things over the years, that doesn't mean I'm bad. Besides, it took you how long to stop burning your empanadas every time you made them?" Panchito let out a fake gasp and the kids laughed.

Donald really missed this, sure some people were still missing but things had always been different with José and Panchito. And he knew exactly why, they had _a lot_ of things to talk about. Maybe it was time. Still, something held him back from starting that conversation... His boys were still the most important thing in his life, always would be, he was afraid of what that conversation might do to them. José and Panchito would understand, they always did. 

The checked arrived as everyone started finishing off their food and there was an awkward silence in the air. The Cabs looked at each other and pushed the check between them until Scrooge rolled his eyes and picked it up. Donald bit back a playful retort, knowing his Uncle ought to make him pay for it if he said it. It wasn't like he didn't have the money to, he did, he just really didn't want to. Besides, his Uncle was the richest duck in the world, he could pay for lunch every now and then. 

After that was taken care of the boys quickly grabbed on to The Cabs and pulled them outside so they could show off their magic, even though one of them had seen it all before. They wanted their Dad to know how good of a teacher he really was. They looked around the plaza and at each other as they tried to figure out how to start before Dewey lit up with an idea. He whispered it to his brothers who nodded along and excitedly agreed to do it. The Cabs watched them amused as the other two came to join them. 

The five of them sat on the steps of the restaurant and let the boys have their moment. After everything that had happened the past couple of months they deserved the chance to show off. 

"Ok, so the last thing we learned was runes, and Dad says that's suuuper advanced! That was a few weeks ago and lookie at what I can already Dewey!" Dewey drew a rune in the air which made a mini sparks show appear. "Ta-da!" The others clapped while his Tios gave his Dad a discreet look. Dewey didn't have too much time to think about that as his brothers were starting their own presentations. Oh well, it was probably nothing. And they didn't seem to be too worried about, which meant he had no reason to be. He was just overthinking it. This was supposed to be a break, there was no room for overthinking! 

There was plenty of time for him to do that back home. "I've been working more with elemental magic, mostly trying to figure out why combining them took us longer to pick up than normal. I haven't yet but I did figure out how to do this," Huey moved both his hands to create a swirling shape of a wind-water hybrid. He really had to concentrate on it so he didn't see the ledge in front of him but he was suddenly stopped before he could fall. 

"And I've learned how to do that." Louie carefully set him back. "It's come in handy a few times." His brother gave him a grateful smile then made the form disappear. Yeah, he had to learn to do that pretty earlier on. His brothers were way too easily distracted and/or focused, something bad was bound to happen if he didn't. 

"Oh, that is good, one of you should be able to look out for that stuff." Donald gave Panchito a look. "It is not our faults we got so easily distracted!" 

"I had to pull your butts out of trouble so many times I should've gotten a reward for it." 

José turned to him, "Sim, but that's like your thing, Donal'. You're _always_ pulling the people you care about out of trouble, it's quite impressive." The boys looked at each other and then their Tios.

"What else does Dad do?" 

They sat next to their Dad as their Tios started talking. He had never said too much about himself, they wanted to know all they could about him. They figured it was only natural, he was their Dad after all. As for their other parent... well, let's just say they weren't too interested in her right now. "There's a lot Donald can do, he's probably never told any of you the humble idiota. But, that is why he has friends! First off, he is a great adventurer, one of the best I know, not only is he cauteloso when need be, he is also super brave in the face of danger." 

"He's muito good at magic," José picked up while Donald tried not to blush from all the attention he was suddenly getting ~~from them~~. "One of the most powerful sorcerors I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot. He's taken down many a foe all by himself! Sometimes even without magic. And if someone ever hurt someone he cared about, oo, I'd hate to be them! His temper is unlike anything I've ever seen but it's always used for good, that takes muito de restrição." 

"And he raised us all by himself!" Huey cheerfully added on. His brothers made noises of agreement and their Dad smiled at them all then hugged the boys close to him. They shared a look as they silently agreed this time they wouldn't pretend to protest it. 

Donald let them go after a few moments and moved the conversation along, "Enough about me. What have you two been up to since the last time we talked?" 

"Ah same old, same old. Our talk of this reunion did put a little pep in my step though, our next one has got to sooner than this one. Oh! And we definitely need to look around here more, this is all new territory to me. José, what do you know about this place?" As José explained they all started to explore and Dewey started taking selfies. His brothers looked at him curiously before he pulled them into one with him. They posed then looked over the picture and started talking about it, completely tuning out the others, as they did from time to time. It was just so easy for them to get lost in conversation with one another. But eventually they zoned back in and saw that their Dad and Tios were now hanging around the fountain, laughing and joking with each other. The boys smiled and let them have their moment. 

"The show must go on!" The Callaberos shouted as they did their signature move then started hopping around before crashing into each other and laughing. 

"Ay Caramba, what a bunch of knuckleheads we used to be." 

José continued his thought, "But look at us now, we're older!" The three of them laughed again. "Seriously though, we're successful, in our own ways, we're responsible. We're not those carefree, fun-loving guys anymore." They sat on the ledge of the fountain with a sigh. Panchito's phone started ringing and he took it out of his holster, pressed ignore with a 'hmmph', and tossed it back in. 

A radio suddenly began playing from a window and José started mindlessly tapping his umbrella against the fountain. He grinned when he realized what he was doing and turned into a maraca, gaining the attention of his friends. They joined in his grinning as he got up and started dancing. Panchito grabbed the umbrella from him and turned it into a flute. He and Donald also began dancing until Panchtio accidentally hit Donald's beak with it. Donald growled and got up as he gave him a sheepish look; José spun Donald who landed with a glare until he realized he started dancing again and smiled, turning his hat into an accordion. 

The three of them put on a show as the boys got curious and came over, they watched amazed until José grabbed Dewey and spun him like he did Donald. Dewey laughed which made the other five smile; he landed with a 'ta-da' motion as his brothers clapped. He started dancing along with the music, grabbing his brothers and making them dance too. Once the impromptu show was over the boys started going on about how cool and fun it was. 

"That was fun! Perhaps we should do this kinda thing more often?" Panchito suggested. Donald was about to agree but then looked down at the boys and realized that that wasn't possible anymore. They had to come first, no matter how much fun he was having with his friends. 

* * *

"Do you think we're holding Dad back?" Huey asked his brothers as soon as the three of them were by themselves. They looked at him confused and he rushed to explain. "Well, he seemed so excited by the prospect of doing things like that more often before looking at us. He's had to give up a lot to be our Dad, and I'm glad he is but he should get to do things he wants to do too." 

"But if he starts doing stuff like that we won't see him as often." Louie argued upset. The idea of not seeing his Dad every day was troubling, to say the least. 

Huey looked at him, "He's done so much for us, that's the least we can do for him." 

"Look, we getting ahead of ourselves," Dewey interjected. "We don't even know if he wants to, maybe he doesn't want to be away from us for too long. We just have to ask him." His brothers agreed and so they went to find their Dad. He waved them over to where he was when he saw them, immediately knowing something was wrong. Well, that made this a little easier. 

As soon as they joined him he started questioning them and they shared a look before Huey said, "If you want to do more shows with Tio José and Tio Panchtio again it's okay with us." 

Donald kneeled down, "Boys, what brought this on?" They explained and when they were done he drew them into a hug. "I have fun with Panchito and José, it's true, but _you're_ my boys and there's no one more important to me than you three. And right now I need to be there to look after you." 

"But you should be able to do things you want to!" Huey protested. "You're important to us too, and we want you to be happy." 

"I _am_ happy, no one makes me happier than you three." He glanced over at his friends, then thought about the other friends he hadn't seen in a _long_ while. "But maybe I need to get better at organizing things. There should be some kind of middle ground." He decided and smiled at his boys. He loved them more than anyone in the entire world and if they wanted him to take some time for himself every now and then, then that was what he needed to do. They saw the things he didn't, couldn't, see about himself and if they noticed something was up then something was up and he needed to do something about it. For all of their sakes, he couldn't take care of them if he didn't take care of him. 

"Like a compromise?" Louie asked uncertainly. 

Donald nodded, "Exactly. It's not the end of the world if I do things with my friends sometimes and I _miss_ days like today. But, it's not your faults, I _chose_ to raise you and I don't regret that. I never will. And if I had do it all again I would in a heartbeat." He hugged them tighter to him and kissed each of their foreheads. "Are you sure you're okay with me doing other things sometimes?" They nodded. "Then I have some friends I need to talk to. I love you, boys." 

"We love you too!" They responded and he smiled as they ended the hug. He gave them one last look over before going over to where his friends were. He wasn't sure how to start this conversation, but he knew it was one he needed to have. 

"Hey, so you know how you talked about doing more shows earlier?" They both nodded, "I'd be down. Of course I can't go all over the globe or anything like that but maybe some around Callisota?" 

"Ai dois mio, Donald, when I was talking about that of course I didn't mean globally! You have the niños now, we completely understand that. Things aren't like they used to be and that's okay." Panchito shrugged, "We just like hanging out with you." 

"It doesn't matter what we're doing, as long as we do it together!" José added on. "And plus, if we do shows around Callisota your família can come see us perform!" 

Donald smiled, "I think they'd really like that." There was more they had to talk about but there would be time for that later. This was a really good start. Sometimes he forgot how much his friends loved him, loved his boys, but they always managed to easily remind him. That was why it was so hard to keep things the way they were, he wanted more with them again. Breaking up with them was one of the hardest things he ever had to do, but he had to it because the boys **had** to come first. And when they were first born they had required all of his attention and he couldn't do that to his then boyfriends. But the boys were ten now, and they had Uncle Scrooge and Mrs. B too, maybe... maybe it really was time. 

And then he heard the shout. 

While their Dad was talking to their Tios the boys decided to meet back up with Webby and do some more exploring. Webby was explaining what she knew about the bloom and how the people were acting kind of weird. "I don't know if they don't know much English but they're only giving like the same three responses to everything." She was saying. The boys looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing enough about the locals to have a real opinion. "Also it might be worth mentioning that I haven't seen anyone's feet today."

"Do you normally look at people's feet?" Louie puzzledly asked. His brothers matched his puzzled look and she quickly denied it. 

"No! That's- no, I don't, it's just something that I noticed. All of the locals have been hidden behind something, I don't know, there's just something _off_ about them." She grabbed Dewey's phone and started scrolling through his pictures until she found one with something interesting. "Look." The boys did and then at each other. The people didn't have feet, they had _vines_. They weren't people. And they needed to get out of there. Immediately. 

And that was when the people turned into vines as they surrounded them, and the plant bloomed, turning it's one-eyed gaze directly on them. The kids screamed. Dewey temporarily blinded the plant with his phone and they were off, trying to get the attention of one of the adults. They heard the footsteps of their Uncle Scrooge running up to where they were and quickly got behind him. He raised his cane at the plant and went in for a direct attack. 

As that was happening the plant vines started circling the kids and the four of them quickly jumped into action. Webby started punching and kicking the vines while the boys shot out blasts of magic at them. This worked for a few minutes, until the amount of vines was more than they could handle. The boys shared a nod then joined their hands together and created a blast so strong that it took all of the vines out. The plant didn't like that. Lucky for them Scrooge was still on it. Unlucky for them it sent out more vines, headed right for them. 

The boys were exhausted after expelling all of that magic and knew there was only one thing left for them to do. "Dad!" 

"My kids!" Donald rushed forward to help them before even thinking to take in the scene. His kids were in trouble, that was all that mattered. But, he was stopped, "Hey, what's the big idea?!" 

"We do it together, and we do it like we did in Acapulco." Panchito, the one who stopped him, said with a smirk. Donald matched it and they got into position. 

The kids were huddled around each other with the plant vines closing in on them when it suddenly got distracted by the strum of a guitar. Everyone looked to see The Three Callaberos standing with their instruments, ready to perform, what were they planning? "We're three Callaberos, Yes three Callaberos, They say we are birds of a feather!" Panchito started singing. The vines left the kids and headed for them. 

"We're happy amigos, No matter where he goes, The one, two, three goes, We're always together," The Cabs started taking out the vines, with their instruments and their limbs. 

"We're three happy chappies, With snappy serapes, You'll find us beneath our sombreros," Panchito covered one of the vines with his sombrero and Donald squashed it with his cello. 

"We're brave and we'll stay so, We're bright as a peso," José sang as he started fighting with the vines in front of the kids. They looked on in awe and started cheering. 

"Who says so?" Donald asked as he checked them over.   
****

His friends quickly pulled him back into the song. "We say so!"  
 ****

"The three Caballeros!" Scrooge got his footing back and climbed on top of the vine that had been dangling him, sliding down it after using his cane to cut off the end. "Ahhhh!" The plant and vine-people visibly cringed at the sound of Donald's singing, which was drowning out his friends', and went to cover their non-existent ears.

He continued on, "We have the stars to guide us," 

"Dad, your voice is terrible! Keep singing!" 

"Guitars here beside us, To play as we go, We sing and we samba," 

José and Panchito took over with a look between them, "We shout, ¡Ay caramba!" Then the three of them finished it off, Donald, once again, drowning out his friends. "The three Caballeros!" The plant withered away and some tourists started clapping. They turned to them proudly but were then tackled by the kids. Donald smiled at his friends as they began excitedly talking and asking questions. Only something like this could happen with the three of them around. 

"That was the coolest thing we've ever seen you do! And we've seen you do a lot of cool things!" Dewey said as they headed to the plane. Everyone agreed that the faster they got out of there the better. 

"Ay, it was pretty impressive, Nephew, and yew ta, Panchito and José. Did yew three used ta get inta that kinda trouble often?" The three of them shared a look as they thought about how to answer that. "Well, that answers that ae suppose. Perhaps there's more ta this 'garage-band' than ae thought." And that was the closest thing to a compliment they were going to get from Scrooge. Donald smiled at his Uncle, knowing that was just how he was and being okay with it. 

"Dad, you _have_ to tell us how you learned to do that! Is that what happened in Acapulco? Were all of your guys' adventures like that? No wonder you're so courageous!" Huey said and Donald smiled, Scrooge may have been a McDuck but his boys were Ducks, through and through. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> ¡Mis sobrinos!/meus sobrinhos - My nephews  
> ávido- greedy  
> adorável jovem- lovely young lady  
> cauteloso- cautious  
> muito- very  
> muito de restrição- a lot of restraint  
> ai dios mio- oh my god
> 
> also I had to include the song, how could I not?


	5. Welcome Home, Lena!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone gets found and everyone deals with the repercussions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where we really diverge from s2 people

When they got back to the mansion the kids were exhausted so Donald and Mrs. Beakley took them to bed. Donald watched the boys excitedly talk amongst themselves as they got into their beds and smiled to himself. He was glad they had such a good time, it almost made this next part easier. Almost. 

"Boys, there's something I feel like you need to know, about your Tios and I." 

Dewey looked at him, "Is this about how you used to date?" What, how did they already know that?!... They were his boys, _of course_ they already knew. 

He rubbed his neck, "Yeah, it is. I broke up with them to focus on raising you three, something I don't and never will regret, and this isn't the conversation where I say I'm gonna start dating them again so you don't need to worry about that. But it's something you should be aware of. Were we that obvious about it?" 

"Noooo..." Huey said unconvincingly; Donald smiled at him fondly. "Kinda, we've known since we were six." 

Donald blinked, "Oh, wow, that long. That's, well... Do you have any questions?" 

"Are you ever gonna start dating them again?" 

"I'd like to, eventually." He answered Louie honestly. "But that won't be for a while, and I'd have to talk to them, and you three, first. I won't do anything you don't want me to, promise." 

"Oo, my turn!" Dewey said eagerly. "When did you start going out with them?" Donald noticed all three of them get intrigued by that question and sat down in their desk chair, he would be here a while. They were really engrossed by this for some reason. It didn't occur to him that it was probably because they were interested in all parts of his life. He thought they would either tease him or be weirded out. 

And it wasn't like that was an easy question to answer. "There wasn't one definite moment, not really, it just slowly progressed from friendship into romance and before we knew it we were dating." 

"When did you first know you liked them?" Oh, nevermind, that was the question that wasn't easy to answer. But if they really wanted to know... 

"When did I _first_ know? Geez that's tough to remember. I wanna say when I first met them but Panchtio did spill coffee all over me so that's probably not true. Hmm, I guess it was sometime after we started being friends. I just remember waking up one day and thinking, _oh_." 

"When was your first kiss?" Louie asked with a smirk and Donald shot out of his chair. 

"Okay, that's enough questions for tonight!" The boys started laughing and he shook his head before giving them their goodnight kisses. These boys were gonna be the death of him... 

After their Dad left their room the boys slowly stopped laughing and layed down, all ready to go to sleep. But there was something Dewey couldn't get out of his head, what was with that weird look earlier? Why did his Tios look at his Dad like that? Maybe one of his brothers knew, they were good with stuff like that. But what would happen once his Dad started dating again, would he suddenly have less time for them? He _always_ put them first, Dewey didn't know if he could lose something like that. 

"Dewey quit thinking I'm trying to sleep." A tired voice said from below him. He opened his mouth to say something before shaking his head and turning to get comfortable, then again... he promised he would stop keeping things from them. He wasn't breaking that again. 

"Guys, something happened earlier." 

"A lot happened, can you be more specific?" 

Dewey glared at Huey's bunk before sighing. "I don't know maybe it's nothing but, when we were showing off our magic our Tios gave Dad a weird look, like they were trying to be discreet about it or something. I can't make any sense of it and I don't wanna ask in case it's nothing." 

Huey thought about that for a second, "We're very advanced for our age, that could have something to do with it. If it was something they would've said something, I don't think it's anything to worry about." That seemed to calm his brother down, if their bond was anything to go by- and it was. Something else did seem to be bothering him though, he wasn't saying anything so it was probably something about their Dad dating. The only one who could calm those worries was their Dad so Huey hoped he eventually went to him with them. If he was being honest though it wasn't something he personally had any worries about. Sure some things would change when it eventually happened but the important things would stay the same. That was what mattered and in time his brothers would understand that. 

The next day was the day they were freeing Lena from the Shadow Realm, but it was also the day Panchito and José were leaving. 'They had to get back to their jobs.' José had explained. But they promised to come visit as soon as they could, they 'had gigs to plan after all' which meant that soon would probably be _soon_. All three of the Callaberos were eager to start performing with one another once again. Which was good since everyone was eager to see Panchito and José again, and for longer. Even if one person didn't act too eager. Well, two technically, but Mrs. Beakley barely knew them. And with what she did know she wasn't very impressed... Well, one stubborn person at a time. 

After the other said their goodbyes the Cabs and the boys were left alone to say theirs, which went a little better than the last time. The boys knew their Tios' would be back soon and that it wouldn't be _years_ before they saw them again, so they were pretty okay. They would still miss them though. The five of them exchanged a hug and the boys gave their Dad knowing looks as they separated, telling them they'd leave them alone to say their own goodbyes. Donald looked at them unamused then turned to his friends, who were trying not to laugh. 

"Ah, we really are obvious, aren't we?" José said with a chuckle. "Can't blame them I guess." And he said it so breezily that it made Donald appreciate how they were so understanding. He would really miss them... They would be back soon, he just had to keep remembering that. 

"Yeah, they're too good at seeing stuff like that." He tried to sound annoyed, but couldn't help the fondness that came through. By their smiles' he could tell they heard it. They did their handshake, shared a hug of their own, and then Panchito and José were off. Donald closed the door behind them then went to the den, he had a spell to do. When he got there he saw the others were already there, which meant they were anticipating this just as much as he was. Not wanting to keep them waiting any longer he got to work setting up what he needed for the spell. 

As he did that the boys got ready to help, something like this would require a lot of energy, even more so than the ritual. Luckily for them they had plenty of energy to spare. Well, plenty was a bit of an exaggeration but they had enough to do the spell, hopefully. They didn't want to be the reason it didn't work, Webby would be so disappointed if that happened and they really wanted to do this for her. It _had_ to work. 

Their Dad nodded to himself then gestured for them to come over next to him. They were starting. 

Watching their Dad perform magic was always really exciting, there was just something about it that was calming, yet powerful at the same time. He always got into it, they knew that when they were younger he did it to entertain them but now they weren't quite sure. Maybe that was just the way he was, he did that with a lot of other things as well. They probably just noticed the magic cause it was something that could always capture their attention. Regardless, watching him was something they really liked to do. 

And performing with him was even better. 

The four of them poured magic into the spell- it was a silent one, as it required _a lot_ of energy and focus, and soon enough a form was starting to appear. There was a little tension as the realm (and other things in it) was fighting to keep her there but they were stronger, not much but enough. As the form solidified and turned more into Lena the lights in the den started to flicker, even going as far as sparking towards the end of it. But they ignored it as best they could, they couldn't get distracted right now. Once she was back and the tension died completely the lights stilled, as did everyone else. 

She was here, she was actually here. 

Webby threw herself at her and latched on tightly as Lena hugged her back just as tightly. Donald and the boys let them have their moment, making her permanent could wait a few moments. 

Right after thinking that something else flew out of the circle they had created- somethings else technically and they weren't anything good.

"Oh phooey." 

* * *

The things began flying around the den as everyone quickly jumped into action to combat them- but they were still shadows, brute force could only do so much. And they all knew first thing just how dangerous shadows could be. They needed a plan, and a fast one, those things were starting to move to other parts of the mansion. Everyone rushed out to the foyer while Donald explaining what exactly they were dealing with. 

"Shadowlings- one of the most dangerous things to come out of the Shadow Realm. Kind of like our shadows and what happened during the shadow war, except they don't need anyone to control them, they do what they want when they want- which is why they're so dangerous. There is a way to send them back but I need my spellbook, which is in my room." 

"Go get it, we'll deal with these bothersome blights!" Scrooge replied as he got into a battle stance. The others followed him and Donald nodded before rushing up the stairs. He fought his way through shadowling after shadowling as they swooped to attack him, it was more annoying than anything and thankfully he was proficient in light magic. But light magic wouldn't be enough to banish these things. No, there was only one way to do that- he knew from past experiences. 

Once he got to his room he shut the door before they could rush in and ransacked for his spellbook. Why was it never in the last place he thought he left it? Right, his luck. He could never catch a break with it for too long. There it was! Under his bed for some reason... Whatever, there wasn't time to focus on that right now. He flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for and grinned triumphantly when he saw it. Now he just had to get back to the foyer.

...After he grabbed a few more things. 

While Donald went to get his spellbook the others started attacking the shadowlings. Huey had figured out pretty quickly that they didn't like light and told his brothers who acted accordingly. The three of them weren't as good as their Dad was but it would be enough to buy them time until he got back. Huey then noticed how much they were going after Lena and made his way over to help her. She nodded at him when he got there and the two of them combated them away as best they could. 

When Huey had told them how the shadowlings didn't like light Dewey and Louie started unleashing light spell after light spell, somehow ending up back to back. They nodded at each other then began protecting one another's backs. The shadowlings weren't getting too close if they had anything to say about it. Louie got annoyed with making light spells that really didn't do much and created a ball of light and shot it at a bunch of them, making them dissipate. 

"Cool." Dewey marveled as he watched. 

"I know. I didn't even know I could do that." More came in to attack them, disrupting the moment and they sighed before jumping back into battle. 

Their Dad came rushing down the stairs, book in hand and shot a big blast of light out of his hand, dispelling the shadowlings away from his family. "Okay, that was cooler." 

Louie shrugged, "Fair enough." 

"Now what?!" Lena shouted as they started to form again. Donald gestured for everyone to get behind him then held out his hands in a V formation and shouted, "Creatures of the dark, go back to where you came from!" Magic flew threw them then headed straight for the shadowlings. Then thinking quickly he tossed a talisman to Lena so she wouldn't be sent back as well. Spells this powerful tended to encapsulate a space and he didn't want to take any chances. They weren't ending this whole thing just to start it all over again. 

Magic enclosed on the shadowlings and made them shriek and shrink until they disappeared, but before they could completely Donald tossed something into them. "So they'll stay there." He explained. The others nodded then all of them looked around the foyer and the mess that was left in the battle's wake. 

"Duckworth!" Scrooge called making Mrs. Beakley hit him, which made the kids giggle and Donald smirk. Duckworth appeared in front of them unimpressed and Mrs. Beakley waved him off. 

"Nothing I can't handle." 

"Nothing we ALL can't handle." Donald interjected, then started picking up before she could say anything. The others looked at each other and shrugged before beginning to help themselves. As they did that Huey took up the oldest brother role and started looking over the other kids to make sure they weren't hurt. They all told him they were fine but let him do it regardless, most of them knew that was how he took control of an uncontrollable situation and made himself feel better. It made them feel better too, so that was a bonus. Once he got to Louie he took almost twice the amount of time he did with the others, making Louie annoyed and Lena confused. 

"Why is he looking over Louie the most?"

"He has this thing where he just doesn't say when something's wrong with him." Dewey replied as he picked up some rubble. 

Louie glared at him, "I'm getting better at that! 'Sides, it's not like you're one to talk." 

"To be fair, all three of us have problems with that." Huey interjected, trying to stop the inevitable fight before it began. He then turned to Lena and smiled at her, "It's good to have you back." Webby beamed and hugged her while she suddenly became hesitant. 

"So you guys _really_ aren't mad at me?" The boys looked at each other. 

"I mean we were mad when we thought you were just using Webby but you cared enough about her to stand up to someone like Magica, which definitely couldn't have been easy. So, we're good." Huey's brothers nodded in agreement and she gave them a small smile. Then noticed she and Webby were still hugging and realized something. 

"You're not gonna let me go anytime soon, are you?" Webby shook her head and the boys shared a devious grin before joining in on the hug as well. "Okay, this is happening now." There was a throat clear behind them and they looked to see the adults watching them amused. 

"So, Lena, are yew ready fer a permanent body?" 

She nodded nervously and all of them made their way back into the den, where the supplies for it were. Donald gave her a reassuring smile then hesitantly picked up Magica's amulet. "We have to use this to do it, but I've replaced Magica's energy with my own and once this is done the only one that will have access to it is you. But I understand if you don't want to, we can figure something else out if that is the case." They could, it would be hard- extremely hard, but it could be done. The last thing he wanted was for her to be uncomfortable, especially with her own body. 

"No, that- that sounds good." She eyed the amulet. "I can do this." 

"Alright, if you're sure. Let's get started." The boys had to sit this one out, as they weren't powerful enough for it, but then again not a lot of magic users were. Magica was one of them, but not even she could do what Donald was about to. This form would be permanent permanent- no more going back to into the shadow realm, no more being _absorbed_ into someone's shadow, no more ties to her creator. Something like this took _**a lot**_ of energy, it made the early spell seem like a cake-walk and would completely drain him, probably for the next few days. Especially with all the work he had to earlier. But it was more than worth it. 

This was also a silent spell, the more powerful ones usually were. Talking wasted energy and he needed all the energy he had. He cupped the amulet in his hands and started pouring energy into it, thinking about how he wanted Lena to have a permanent form that couldn't be tampered with in any way. After a few moments and the amulet glowing blue- his signature magical color. He gently forced into her body and it began slowly changing from blue to a lighter blue. Huh, he wondered what her's might be, it made sense. Once it was entirely the lighter blue he removed his hands and it disappeared deeper into her, solidifying her form completely. 

It was silent for a few moments, then she tearfully grinned and hugged him. He wasn't expecting such a strong reaction from her but he wasn't complaining. He was just glad she was back. Something everyone could agree with. 

* * *

After everything got cleaned up and most of the kids were sent up to bed, some being more stubborn about going than others, the adults and Lena sat down to talk about certain things. It wasn't something she was looking forward to, but if she didn't talk about it with them she would have to with Webby- and that was somehow worse. Though she knew she would have to talk to her about things eventually. The longer she could put _that_ off the better.

"So, there is the matter of Lena's living situation that needs to be addressed." Huh, _that's_ what they were gonna talk about? That she could do. But first, she had to make sure she knew what she was getting into. 

"Is that all we're gonna talk about tonight?" 

The adults glanced at each other. "Yes. No ane wants ta push ye, Lena. Ye can talk aboot that stuff when yer ready." That was a relief. 

"Oh. Okay. So what about my living situation?" 

Mrs. Beakley gave her a look of steel. "You're living under an abandoned amphitheater. That is not adequate and needs to be changed immediately. The three of us have discussed it and think it's best if you live here, only if you want to of course." 

Lena tried not to look hopeful, but with this family that was becoming harder and harder. "Really? Like I could stay here forever? No matter what?" 

"No matter what." Donald confirmed. She could stay here, she could actually become a part of this family. But did she deserve to? They've been nothing but nice to her, even when she didn't deserve it. It wasn't fair. Why did they do that? They made it so much harder for her to stay mad at herself, which was probably their plan, but she wanted to stay mad at herself. That was what she deserved. But she could do that in a nice place, maybe she could even learn to forgive herself. Eventually. 

"Okay, that sounds good." 

"Great. We can get everythin' set up tomorrow but fer tonight why dinnae yew go get some rest? Ae'm sure Webbigail wouldnae mind sharin' fer the night." Scrooge added, knowing she wouldn't want to be alone. Lena knew she wouldn't mind and sleep sounded _so_ good right now... but she wasn't sure she would be able to get any. Well, she could try. 

She quietly knocked on her door then went in when she didn't get an answer. She figured Webby was already asleep. This turned out to not be the case as soon as she got in there she was tackled in a hug by a pink blur. "I waited up to see what happened! How did it go? What did they say? Are they gonna let you stay here?" Lena hugged her back, 

"Umm, good, not much, and yes. They offered actually. Here's better than the amphitheater so..." She trailed off, trying her best to act nonchalant. 

Webby looked at her, "You don't have to do that. I know that made you happy." She knew Lena too well. "You don't have to hide how you feel around us, Lena, we're here for you." Lena smiled at her, she wasn't sure if she believed that yet but she believed Webby, she had never lied to her. Oh boy, this was gonna be hard. 

"Look, about all that stuff I did-" Webby shook her head, 

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize, I know you didn't want to do that stuff and that's what matters. I mean, sure, the start of our friendship was less than ideal but the rest of it isn't! You're my bestfriend and I'm gonna do whatever I can to help you get through this! I know you're mad at yourself but I'm telling you you don't have to be. You're okay, no one else blames you. And in time you won't either, hopefully, stuff like that can be hard and sometimes our minds are mean-" Lena chuckled which brought Webby out of her rambling. 

"Never change, Webby." 

"Only if you don't either." 


	6. It's Okay Not To Have The Answers... Doesn't Mean It's Easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adjustments are made and things are looked into.

The next few days were spent much more relaxed than the previous ones, after everything that had happened it was needed. Donald, in particular, barely got out of his bed he was so exhausted. Magic hadn't taken that much out of him for a while. But, he was better now and ready to be productive once again, and the first thing he had to do was find his boys. Hopefully they hadn't gotten into too much trouble while he was out. No, he couldn't think like that, he trusted his Uncle to watch them.... he trusted Mrs. B to watch them. 

He made his way to find them and ended up running into Webby- literally. "Oops. Sorry, Uncle Donald. Hey, you're up again! The -uh- boys were starting to get worried, but I knew it'd take more than a couple of magic things to keep you down!" He rubbed her head and she beamed at him. 

"What're you up to, kiddo?" 

"I'm helping Lena finish setting up her room, she says it fine you weren't able to help, by the way. Something about you doing more than enough, which I completely agree with. She gets that you were exhausted and so do the others but Uncle Scrooge had to be berated by Granny before he did. I don't think he gets magic that well." 

That was an understatement. "No, he doesn't. Well, I wish I could've been able to help but I really needed some rest. Think I can see the final product?" Webby nodded eagerly and pulled him along to where Lena's room was- which was really close to her's, that wasn't much of a surprise. She knocked on the door, going in before she could get a response and Donald went after her. The room was very Lena, posters of bands, dark purple walls, furniture he guessed was from her place under the amphitheater- there were even blackout curtains! Which, was more than understandable considering her circumstances. It looked nice. 

"I found the lights you wanted! Granny says she'll bring them in." Webby informed her friend. Lena nodded at her then turned to Donald and did the same to him. 

"Looks good, Lena." He said with a smile. 

She looked bewildered by that. "Oh, uh, thanks. Doesn't seem like your type of room but alright."

"You'd be surprised what phases I went through when I was your age." He chuckled. "Do either of you know where the boys are?" 

"No, sorry."

"That's alright, I'll just find them myself." And with that he took his leave. He went over to their door, where they were the most likely to be, and knocked. There was no answer, "Boys? You in there?" Still no answer. He opened the door and looked around to see it was completely empty. Huh, that was weird, but not something necessarily worth worrying about, he would just keep looking. Okay so if they weren't in their room they were probably in the den. With that in mind he made his way down there. When he got there he saw that he was again wrong and the only one in there was Mrs. B, who was cleaning. He gave her a nod and continued on his way, kitchen then. 

He opened the kitchen door and mentally sighed in relief when he saw them hanging around the alcove. Huey jumped to attention when he noticed him and nudged his brothers who then also noticed him. The next second he was on the floor covered in kids. "Oof. I missed you boys too." 

"You're alive!" Dewey cheerfully exclaimed. "We wanted to check in on you but Mrs. B said you needed rest. We could've been quiet though! She doesn't know anything." He pouted. 

"What he means to say is: we're glad you're okay, Dad." Huey interjected. Dewey perked back up and nodded, Louie just hugged him tighter. Donald wrapped his arms around his boys and drew them in closer. He didn't mean to worry them, he really didn't, and he wished Mrs. B would've let them see him, but he was here now and he was better, that was what mattered. 

"I am okay, are you guys?" They shared a look and nodded, he sighed in relief -out loud this time- and drew them closer. Correction, _that_ was what mattered. That they were _all_ okay. 

Things were okay right now, though some part of him wondered how much longer that would remain. 

* * *

Christmas came and went and with it came new feelings, for Dewey specifically. He saw Della- when she was younger but still, he actually _saw_ her! And he didn't know how to feel about it. She was cool, and was clearly all about family back then, so what changed? He didn't know, the only answer he could think of was one he didn't want. What he did want were his brothers. Their door opened not even a second later. 

Huh, that was weird. 

But he wouldn't dwell on that right now, he needed comfort. "Dewey, what's wrong?" His older brother asked as soon as he hugged him and Louie. 

"Just have a lot of feelings, about seeing Della." His brothers nodded in understanding. "It was... I don't even know. It just made me confused -again-, if she loved her family so much, how could she leave us?" He sighed, "Moving on- harder than it sounds." 

"What happened to us being fine without her?" Louie asked as he hopped on his bed. 

Dewey joined him, a few seconds later Huey did as well. "We are fine without her but seeing her... she was pretty great. It kinda makes it harder to not like her, but at the same time it makes me madder." He rubbed his face. "Ugh, why is this so hard? I don't want to like her." 

"So don't," Huey said and his brother blinked. 

"Hubert, you're a genius. Okay, I'm done with this, it didn't change my opinion on anything. Not worth dwelling on anymore." He laid back on the bed and stared at the top of his bunk. He felt movement on either side of him and knew his brothers had done the same. Oh, he should probably think about that other thing now, "So like, before you guys came in was something telling you to?" 

Huey and Louie shared a look over his head, "Yeah kinda, why?" 

"Cause like not even a second before that I was thinking that I really needed you guys. Our bond keeps getting weirder and weirder. Seriously, what is it? What else are we gonna be able to do with it, or cause of it? And why are _we_ the ones that have it? What makes us so special? I have a lot of questions." He admitted and Huey hummed, they all did. But they weren't gonna solve anything just laying there. Although saying that... this was really nice. He liked when it was just the three of them like this, maybe they could stay this way a little longer. 

Their door flung open and the girls walked in, maybe not. 

"What're you nerds up to?" Lena asked as she plopped into their beanbag chair. The boys shared a look and sat back up, some more begrudgingly than others. 

"Just talking, why?" Lena shrugged and Webby joined them on the bed. "Did you guys wanna do something?" This time the girls shared a look and Huey felt a pit form in his stomach, he did not like that look. But he would wait to see where this went before he said anything. If it was nothing he just looked like a jerk, and he didn't want that. Besides, he should really be trying to give Lena the benefit of the doubt. 

"Yeah actually, have you guys heard of realm travel?"

Nope, nevermind. "I'm not putting us in danger just so you can prove a point." 

Lena raised an eyebrow defensively, "What point?" 

"I don't know- that you're fine, that you're in control of your magic, something else? Any of them work but I have to put my foot down. It's too dangerous and someone will get hurt." He sighed and softened his face, "You've been through a lot, I get it, we all get it." He gestured to the others who nodded. "But that doesn't mean you can do things without thinking them through. It's okay if you're not okay and it's okay if you're having trouble with your magic- it's not okay to put anyone in danger, willingly or not. We're here for you, Lena, you don't have to put on an act." Lena looked down and Huey guessed he hit the nail just right. The only question was would she get mad at him over it? 

Lena looked up again and all of them before sighing. "You're right, I was trying to prove something. To myself. I thought that if I could do this I could say I wasn't scared, but I am scared. Terrified, even. The thought of that place... I just wanted to confront it head-on, but I didn't want to be alone," She gave them a sheepish smile. "Sorry." Webby quickly lept up and hugged her while the boys had one of their silent conversations. 

"Eh, it's fine." Dewey waved off. "Just... don't actually go back there, yeah? We just got you back- hate to lose you again." Lena nodded and Louie finally joined in on the conversation, now having something to say. 

"It's okay to be scared, I'm scared, of a lot. Confronting it head-on's just gonna do more harm than good, baby steps and all of that junk." He looked like he was done but Huey nudged him. "We're here for you. Happy?" He directed towards his brother who nodded with a snicker. Dewey also gave one. "Yea, yea let's all laugh at the boy who doesn't like to be sappy. Real great." He rolled his eyes. 

The girls decided to leave after that, which meant the boys could get back to what they were doing before. Louie was about to do so before he noticed his brothers' thoughtful looks and knew they wanted to look more into their bond, again. He wasn't against it, but they kept hitting dead end after dead end, they had to really put some thought into it. Maybe they had to start somewhere else... "What about if we look more into magic itself? We've been wanting to do that anyway." 

"That's a really good idea." 

"Let's Dewey it!" Dewey cheered and his brothers hit him with pillows. He fell back into the bed; they all laughed. 

Donald looked at his Uncle in disbelief as he tried to put a sail on the houseboat, they were doing some Uncle-and-Nephew bonding and it was going just about how he expected. Meaning Scrooge knew nothing about boats and was being too stubborn to accept help. He'd relent eventually, he was getting better at that. "You know that's backward, right?" 

Scrooge paused then dropped it, annoyed. "Ae dinnae see how yew can do this sort o' stuff, Donald. Blasted thing." He mumbled as he kicked it. 

"It's called experience. Maybe if you knew a thing or two about boats." Scrooge glared at him then the both of them laughed and Donald picked it up. He used his magic to put it on correctly, "Now we just have to find a way to get this boat into the marina and we can actually do something." 

"Ae can give Launchpad a call-" 

"And interrupt his day off? That's cold." Scrooge was about to retort when they heard an explosion and two figures ran outside seconds later. "It's fine! It's fine!" Webby yelled as she and Lena tossed something into the forest. Donald shared a look with his Uncle and they both sighed. This was gonna take some getting used to. 

Mrs. Beakley came out as well and Donald ran to her before she could start to yell at girls. That wouldn't end well. "I'll talk to them, alright?" She stared at him. "I'll talk to Lena?" 

"Better." She went over and collected her granddaughter, Lena gave her an apologetic look and she sighed. "Donald'll talk to you. Come along, Webby." Webby did so hesitantly, but not without looking back at her friend. Lena gave her a smile and thumbs up but quickly dropped the act when she turned her back. She really screwed up. She heard Mr. Duck say something to Mr. McDuck, who didn't look happy about being interrupted, -great, something else for her to feel bad about- before making his way over to her. He looked into the forest where smoke was forming then nodded to himself. 

"Let me guess, you tired a spell or something similar too advanced for you and it backfired." She nodded. "Well, least you got it out of the mansion." 

She looked at him confused. "You're not mad?" 

He simply stared down at her, "There's a lot you don't know about magic, huh?" She shook her head. "Lena, you just got out of the shadow realm, it might be best to give the magic a break. Look, if you wanna learn more about I'll be more than happy to teach you but, if you don't want to use it again you don't have to. You're shaking." He pointed out and she looked at herself, she was. "It scares you." 

She started shaking more as she tried not to cry and he carefully drew her into his arms. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay. Don't push yourself, let yourself heal before you decide if you wanna use it again. I know you went through a lot with _her_ but magic isn't something to be feared, when it's used correctly it's a wonderful thing. It's a part of you, like it or not, and you shouldn't have to fear yourself. We'll help you, okay? You'll get through this." 

"Okay. Sorry for interrupting you and Mr. McDuck." 

"That's Scrooge ta ye, lass, and it's no issue." They both looked to see Scrooge standing behind them; Donald smiled at him and he smiled back. They could always go boating some other day. 

* * *

"This library is too big, we'll never find anything." Dewey complained as they entered the mansion's library- if their Dad's was huge, this was ginormous. But they had had the idea that perhaps this one would have information that could help them. It had seemed like a good idea before they actually got in there. Now he just wanted to go back to their room. And it looked like he wasn't the only one with that idea. 

"Why do we think this library'll have more information than Dad's? Uncle Scrooge's hated magic for like, most of his life." Louie pointed out as he picked up a random book. He mouthed the title to himself then put it back where he found it, that wasn't what they were looking for. Why did Scrooge even have a book on philosophy? 

"All the more reason for him to have information on it! Knowing your enemy is rule 236 of the junior woodchuck guidebook. If we want answers we have to work for them." Louie groaned and Huey ignored him. "So let's get started!" 

The three of them glanced around, "I bring you back to: this library is too big!" 

"Well maybe there's like a section on it or something. We'll never know until we look." Huey was interrupted by a book floating by his face and looked to his brothers using their magic to pull specific ones to them. "Or we could do that." 

"We'll be here all day if we don't." Yeah, he had to give that one to Louie, they really would be. 

They looked through all the books surrounding them, occasionally pointing out something they found, filling the otherwise silent room. It was unnerving for all of them so Dewey pulled out his phone and started a playlist. That was better. It was a while before they found anything really interesting, much to their disappointment, why did this stuff have to be so hard? I mean performing magic they were great at, they _excelled_ at it- but researching magic? That was a different story. But Huey was right, if they wanted answers they had to work for them. And they really wanted answers. 

Not just about their bond, they had a lot of questions about magic too. They'd ask their Dad, but he was out with their Uncle Scrooge- at least, last they heard he was. So library it was. Too bad two out of three of them found the library _super_ boring. They would power through it, but for how long they couldn't be sure. Probably until they got hungry at the very least. Come to think of it, did they ever have anything to eat after this morning? What time was it? 

Dewey asked what the three of them were thinking. "Guys, did we ever have lunch?" His brothers looked at each other, Huey opened his mouth, then immediately closed it. Well, there was their answer. "So do we take a break or...?" 

"We haven't found anything yet, are we that hungry?" 

"I wanna say yes." Dewey whispered. 

"Guys, shut up, I found something." The two of them looked at their younger brother, who was skimming through a book. "Apparently there's a place where magic is visible? It's supposedly where all magic users get their power from. It can't be seen by everyone though, only certain magic users. Probably to protect it. No one except those who can see it know where it is, but that doesn't make sense, how would they know how to find it?" Louie looked at his brothers confused. 

"It comes to them in a dream." Huey picked up where he left off. "Some of them chose to listen to the dream and some don't. People in tune with their intuition are usually the ones who do. Makes sense. They're let in on the conditions that they don't share what it looks like and/or don't try to take/corrupt the magic. Wonder how they're chosen? There's nothing about it here." 

Dewey took the book from Louie, "This is really interesting but it doesn't help us. It's not like _we_ can go there." 

"We wanted to know more about magic. What else is in these books?" Huey started searching through them again and his brothers shrugged before doing the same.

Lena sat on the edge of the pool as Donald and Scrooge took down the sail, she felt someone sit next to her and immediately knew it was Webby. She gave her a hesitant smile then saw a shadow appear above her. Before she could see who it was she freaked out and fell into the pool. She splashed around for a few moments before she was gently grabbed and pulled back to the grass. "Lena?" Webby softly asked in a worried tone. "Are you okay?" 

"Been better." She dryly replied and the adults sighed in relief, if she could still be like that it wasn't that bad. 

"I apologize, Lena, I didn't mean to startle you." 

"It's fine, Tea Time, just warn a girl next time." She slowly sat up and saw that Donald and Scrooge had joined them on land, probably after she fell in the pool. They were watching her worriedly, they all were, which didn't make her feel much better. Ugh, why did she have to be so broken? She felt someone hug her not a second later, she swore Webby could read her thoughts or something. Well, pretty much everyone else in this family had magic, it wouldn't surprise her. "Did you need something?" She asked Mrs. Beakley, to get the conversation to another topic- having all of their attention on her was unnerving. 

"Yes actually, I wanted to give you something." Oh? What could she possibly have that would interest Lena? She wasn't exactly the type of person to enjoy tea. "Here." She handed something to her and Lena looked them over. "I've noticed you're... on edge, I thought these might help. They're called Baoding Balls, their movement in your hands is said to relax your brain and distract you from whatever worries you may have. It's not a permanent solution... but it's something." Lena looked at her with awe trying to think of something to say to get across how much this meant to her. 

"Thank you." Was that all that would come out. It wasn't enough, not to her, but Mrs. Beakley seemed to accept it just fine. 

"Of course, dear, anything I can do to help I will try my best to do. When I was coming over to reprimand you earlier it was because I was worried, I don't want Webby OR you to get hurt. But Donald had the right idea, I would've done more harm than good so I'm sorry. This is new for all of us, it'll take some time to adjust, but as long as we work on it together we will do it." Lena had to admit she wasn't expecting her to apologize, _no one_ had ever apologized to her before. This family was good at throwing her for a loop, she'd give them that. 

"Oh umm, it's okay I guess? I mean I get why you wanted to, I was being dumb and wasn't thinking." 

"There'll be none of that in this house. You messed up, it happens. The important thing is that you learn from it- and you did have the right idea getting it out of the house so there's that." That got a few chuckles out of everyone. "You're just a kid, Lena, a kid who went through something no kid should ever have to go through. No one blames you for making a few misjudgments, no one blames you for what happened." Lena felt tears welling up in her eyes and tried to wipe them away, it didn't work. That was two people that had said that now, it had to mean something. And if they didn't blame her, maybe she didn't have to blame herself either. 

The moment was broken up by a loud sound coming from the mansion; they all looked around and realized there were only three people missing. 

"Those boys are gonna be the death of me." Donald groaned. The others tried not to laugh, they were unsuccessful. Donald ignored them and got up, a Dad's job was never done. But honestly, that was the way he preferred it. 


	7. Adventures are Bad More Times than They're Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone goes on an adventure and something horrible happens.

The family was slowly getting back into adventuring again, the only difference was that now Donald was going on almost all of them. He never thought he would, but he really missed it. And it was better this time around- his kids were there too. Which also made it more nerve-wracking but he trusted them with this stuff, the Shadow War had proved they were more than capable. 

So when Scrooge came to him with a new adventure idea he agreed to it. 

As soon as the boys got up they could tell this would be an interesting day, the good or bad kind was yet to be determined. But when their Dad and Uncle told them about an adventure they were going on they quickly forgot all about that thought. They hadn't been on an adventure since Lena got back, they were excited! Too excited to think about anything else. Huh, they were that way with magic too, was adventuring becoming just as important to them? They didn't know what to think about that. But, they could focus on that other time, right now they had a trip to get ready for. 

"Where Dewey you guys think we're going?" Dewey asked his brothers as he watched Huey pack. He would of as well, but there was really no need for it. Huey would pack everything they needed and then some. 

Louie, who was sitting next to him, replied, "Who knows? Long as there's treasure I'm good." 

"We know." His brothers responded annoyed, though there was a hint of fondness behind it. Huey looked back to his bag to triple check he had everything, then one more time after he finished just to be sure. The bag was gently ripped away from him. 

"Hue, you've checked like five times. We're good. And we're also gonna get left behind if we don't go right now." The three of them looked at each other then rushed out of their room and down to the plane. They got there to see Launchpad still loading it up, good, they were just in time. It wouldn't have been the first time they had gotten left behind. Scrooge was far too strict with that stuff in their opinions, it wasn't their faults they got distracted easily. 

They boarded the plane to see everyone else already there- minus Lena, she had been pretty adamant in not going. Which, was fair enough. They climbed in their seats and waited for Launchpad to be done, mindlessly talking with Webby as they did so. Somehow the conversation had gotten to the adventure they were going on, which they still knew nothing about. They tried pestering their Uncle for answers but he wouldn't give them. That was kind of weird but not the first time it happened, he would probably tell them on the way there. 

After a few more minutes they were finally ready for take-off. It was bumpy, as usual, but once they got in the sky the kids relaxed and did what they normally did on flights- goofed off. Well, all of them except for Louie who got out his phone. Dewey got a mischievous look on his face and tried to grab it from him. The two of them ended up playfully wresting for it with Huey eventually -inevitably- ending up in the mix as well. This continued for a few minutes before Dewey broke away with the phone.

"I know your password." Dewey said as he got out of his range. 

Louie sunk back in his seat, "No you don't, I changed it." 

"You changed it?! Why?!" 

"I had to. Webby figured it out." 

Webby nodded, "I did." Dewey hummed for a few seconds then typed something in and made triumphant noise, showing his brother the now unlocked phone. 

Louie blinked. "We know each other too well." He grabbed his phone back and put it in his pocket. Hanging out with his brothers was always more exciting than anything it could show him. Dewey plopped back into the seat next to him but immediately sat up to say something to his older brother, who was now back in his seat next to Webby. 

"Maybe you should tell them where we're going now." Donald suggested to his Uncle. "You do know where we going, don't you?" He added on, trying to antagonize him. 

"Of course ae know where we're goin'!" Scrooge glared at him then turned to the kids and got their attention. "Kiddos! Ready ta know where we're headed?" They nodded. "It's an ancient cave, deep in the forests o' Shadowash. Legend says it's full o' all sorts o' wisdom. Of course this cave won't be easy ta traverse, this wisdom is guarded by traps- and a lot o' them. But if we can get past them we'll have access ta a cavern where a mysterious treasure is rumored ta be held." By the end of his explanation all of the boys were excited. It looked like this day would be the good kind of interesting. 

But the closer they got, the more dread Donald started to feel. 

He wasn't sure why, this was just an ordinary adventure. But something told him it wouldn't be so ordinary. They could handle it, whatever it was the six of them could handle it. He looked at the kids who were talking to each other with wide grins and smiled himself, they could handle it. He then turned back to his Uncle and the map of the cave. Well, it was more like an outline- really just showing where the traps were. But if they wanted to get past them they needed a plan. A plan that took Dewey and Webby into account. They were getting better about not rushing forward but better safe than sorry. The two of them quietly conversed about said plan- which included a lot of disagreements. But eventually they came up with a definite one. And just in time too, they were arriving at the forest. 

Launchpad landed as close to the cave as the forest would allow, which was pretty close but required some walking, and the rest of them were off. Scrooge took up the front of the line while Donald took up the back, with the kids safely in between them of course. The forest was dense and he kept getting tangled up in roots, so not even five minutes in he was ready to turn back. But he was clearly the only one, though he could tell the kids were getting tired of walking. He couldn't blame them.

Walking was the _worst_ part of an adventure. 

"Are we there yet?" Donald shook his head. "Are we close?" He opened his mouth then closed it. 

"Possibly." Dewey groaned and Donald ruffled his head. "Sorry, kiddo. If we could've landed any closer we would have."

The dread he felt earlier was getting stronger and he was beginning to wonder if this adventure was a good idea. He hadn't felt dread this bad since... his last Callabero adventure, and there was a reason it was the last. Maybe he should say something... "Why couldn't we have landed closer? There's not that many trees." Donald looked around at the exuberant amount of trees then back to his son with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, so there's a few trees." 

Donald chuckled, "A few is an understatement." 

Scrooge suddenly made a noise to get everyone's attention- they were there. The cave of Shadowash. It looked as foreboding as it felt, at least to Donald- the others were more than excited to go in. He didn't know how he felt about that. But they were already heading in so he had no choice but to follow. 

No matter how badly he wanted to turn around. 

* * *

The cave itself wasn't anything too spectacular, it was just an ordinary cave really. But it held knowledge in its walls, and some sort of treasure in its innermost cavern, that was why they were there. Now they just had to figure out how to access it all. And the quicker they could do that the quicker they could leave so Donald was all on board for it. He didn't take into account that his family would be more than happy to take their time. They didn't see anything wrong after all- they didn't have the instincts that he had, no one did. None of them had seen the things he had, even Scrooge. He was thankful for that but he also really wanted to get them all out of there. 

And they weren't even in the first chamber yet. This would be a long day. 

He supposed he could just tell them his concerns, but not only had he had plenty of time to do and just didn't, there was also a huge chance Scrooge would just write him off as being overly paranoid for no real reason. And he really didn't want to have that argument again. No, he would just keep an eye on things- just like he always did. If something went wrong he would fix it before it became a real problem. Just like he always did.

The boys looked around the cave in wonder; it was so big and if they said something loud enough it would echo- Dewey had proven that. Huey immediately began trying to find the wisdom his Uncle said it had but was coming up short. It seemed to be one of those things where it had wisdom because it was ancient. Which was interesting in its own right but not what he was hoping for. Well, he could still learn something, and his brothers were excited about the other prospects so he couldn't complain too much. He did wish they hadn't had to walk so far to get there though.

As they made their way to the first real part of it the kids had somehow started talking about their dominant hand. Don't ask, Huey couldn't tell you how they got there. But it was something Webby was curious about for some reason and something the triplets had never given too much thought to. They just used whichever hand felt best. Well, they had to pass the time somehow. And it was better than _whatever_ Scrooge was trying to explain to them, they had stopped listening a few minutes ago. 

"I'm left-handed." Louie said, breaking Huey out of his thoughts. 

Webby looked at him confused, "You're using your right?"

"I've fooled you all." Huey rolled his eyes as he playfully nudged his brother and the four of them were on their way once again. 

The first of the many traps was a simple one and their Dad gave Dewey the go-ahead to set it off, which he successfully did. He was not as successful with the following one. "This is stupid." He sulked as he picked spider webs out of his feathers. Spider webs as a trap, what were these people, bugs? Honestly with everything they had seen that wouldn't surprise him. 

"And that's why we look ahead." His Uncle told him. "Yew did a good job with the first ane though." 

"What has looking ahead ever done for me?" 

"Well, you wouldn't be covered in webs right now." Huey teased which made their younger brother snicker. Dewey fought back a smile as he shook his head at both of them, the three of them knew none of them were being serious. And in retaliation he flung webs at both of them making them bat them away with disgust. "Thank _you_ for that." 

"No problem." Louie hit him in the arm as he passed him and Dewey stuck his tongue out. The three of them messed around with each other for a few more minutes but were made to stop when they all got to the first cavern. There was nothing in it. Their Uncle stuck out his hand to stop them from going in and carefully surveyed the room. The triplets weren't sure what he was looking for but guessed it was something to do with what he and their Dad had been whispering about earlier. They had to have some sort of plan cause they then went in and carefully set off some traps that where littered around the area, waving the kids in after they were done. 

The four of them looked and each other and shrugged, less work for them then. This routine continued for the next few caverns- the adults would go in and set off any traps and the kids would follow once they were done. They were quickly getting bored. They were supposed to be taking part in the adventure, not letting the adults do everything! "Why can't we set off any of the traps?" Dewey asked as he watched the adults go to do it- once again. "How are we supposed to learn how to be better adventurers if we keep getting sidelined?" His siblings nodded in agreement. 

Donald looked at his Uncle, "Huh. You know, they have a good point. Come in and help us out, _carefully_." It was a big risk letting them do this but he had to let go sometime. Besides, he and Scrooge would be there every step of the way. 

Dewey and Webby immediately ran to do so so the other two figured they would leave them to it. "Do you feel, off?" Louie cautiously asked his brother. 

"Off how?" 

"Like we're not supposed to be here. Like something bad'll happen. I dunno, maybe I'm just overthinking it." He added on when he noticed Huey's face. "It's probably nothing, forget I said anything." 

Huey looked at him for a couple of seconds, "Even if something's off we have Dad and Uncle Scrooge, nothing's gonna happen." 

"Yeah, you're right." If one of his brothers said something was true then it was, that was the way they had always been. He then went silent as he watched the others deal with the traps. He could feel Huey's eyes still on him but decided to ignore it, things were fine. Their Dad wasn't even worried, whatever he was feeling couldn't be that bad. He just hoped they would find the treasure soon. 

The kids were getting better at this stuff, Donald noted as he watched them. He was so proud of them. They were really growing into their own, it was all he could ever want as a parent. He wondered if this how Scrooge felt as he watched him and Della adventure. Huh, that was the first time he thought about her without getting sad. Things really were improving for him. For all of them. "Dewey, don't do that you'll bring the whole cave down!" 

Towards the end of the cave is when things started getting harder, it made sense- they _were_ getting extremely close to the treasure. But it meant that they had to start being even more careful than they were before. It also meant Donald would be keeping a closer eye on the kids. Scrooge could handle the traps and Donald would keep them out of danger, they were a pretty good team. When they weren't constantly at each other's throats that was. Luckily they were getting better with that. And just in time too, these adventures were starting to get even harder. Case in point: this one. 

This was definitely becoming one of the hardest adventures he had been on in a while- Shadow War included. He wasn't quite sure why, probably something to do with the dread he was still feeling. But they couldn't turn back now, or rather they wouldn't- Scrooge would call it a waste of time. And honestly, he would be inclined to agree with him. They had come so far, no, they had to see this through till the end. He could only hope they end wouldn't be as bad as he feared it would be. 

"How do we do this?" Webby asked and he turned to her. How did they do this indeed? The cavern looked like it would cave in on itself at the slightest movement. Looked like he had to use his magic. 

He meticulously put a barrier above them that spanned the whole cavern and gestured for them to hurry across. Once they were all safely on the other side he took a breath and did so himself, it took longer for him- he had to make sure the barrier didn't dissipate as he moved, rubble was already gathering on top of it. So much, in fact, that he knew they wouldn't be able to come back this way. But he got to the other side as well and that was all that really mattered. 

While his Dad journeyed across the cavern Louie decided to head to the one that held the treasure, they were so close he could literally see it. And sure he knew there would definitely be more traps in there but it would be nothing he couldn't handle himself. He had already checked with his magic. He was greedy- not stupid. Looking back to make sure no one would try to stop him he carefully made his way in, setting off the traps one-by-one until there were no more. 

That was when he saw it- the treasure. There was something about it that was familiar but he couldn't place his finger on it. Oh well, can't be that important, he decided. He made his way to it and after making sure it wasn't booby-trapped he grabbed it. 

And then it all went black.

* * *

Donald berated Louie as soon as he got back to them for running off like that. He couldn't describe the terror he felt when he got across the cavern and saw his youngest son wasn't there. He looked to be all right thankfully but he really should know better than that by now. Of course Donald should know _him_ better by now. It was a work in progress for both of them. 

"Sorry." Was all Louie offered. And Donald narrowed his eyes suspiciously, something wasn't right...

"So, Lad, what was the treasure then?" Scrooge asked as they made their way to the chamber, getting Donald's mind off of his suspiciousness- at least for the time being. 

Louie shrugged, "Nothing much, just some weird stone. Didn't look expensive enough for me to take." As they continued on Huey and Dewey sensed something _off_ about their brother. His energy was all different and it was affecting their bond greatly. They kept shooting looks at him trying to figure out what was going on. Something definitely happened it that chamber, something bad. And they _needed_ to know what it was, but they had a feeling asking would get them nowhere. So then how to do it? 

Maybe they could try to reach out for him with their bond? But when they did that something that never happened happened, they got pushed out. _Forced_ out more like it. None of them had ever done that to each other, there was never any reason for them to. And it wasn't a good feeling, why would he do that? What could possibly be so wrong that he felt the need to? Unless..... 

That wasn't Louie. 

When Louie woke up he was somewhere he didn’t recognize. Blackness was completely surrounding him and no matter how much he ran it continued -it was like a void of some sort. What was going on? 

And why couldn't he feel his brothers? 

For as long as he could remember he could always feel them in some way, even during the whole nightmare invasion fiasco, but now: nothing. It was unnerving. He wanted to get out of here. Now. But how could he do that if he didn't know where he was? Okay, the first thing he had to do was backtrack, what was the last thing he remembered? Touching that orb. Ugh, he had to stop touching random things. 

After he got out of here. But where was here?!?! "Sorry." He heard his own voice suddenly say, what? He didn't say that, but then what did? And why could he hear it? Was he... was he in his mind? Was something _possessing_ him?! No, nononono, he had to get out of here- before whatever this was hurt his family. He tried to call his magic to him to help out but nothing came. Great, was this thing in control of his magic too? He had to do something else then, he wouldn't let them get hurt. 

The first thing Huey and Dewey wanted to do was to tell the others, or at least their Dad. It would hard to do without whatever was in their brother finding out but they had to do it, who knew what was happening to him right now? No, this was something the two of them couldn't handle on there own. So, as soon as they got to the treasure cavern they quickly and discreetly pulled their Dad aside, who looked at them worriedly. 

"Boys, what's wrong?" 

They looked at each other and then him, "Something's in Louie's body. Our bond has been off ever since he got back to us and when we tried to reach out earlier we got pushed back." Huey quietly explained and their Dad's face paled. 

"I knew something was up. Okay, here's what we're going to do:" He shot a quick look over his shoulder to make sure the thing wasn't watching them. "We're going to tell the others and then we're going to get whatever it is out of his body, I know a spell but it has to be distracted." He looked down at his boys determinedly, "We're going to get him back." The two of them nodded and they all went to tell the others. Scrooge was a bit harder to convince than Donald had been but after everything was explained to him, including the dread Donald had been feeling -man he was really regretting not saying something sooner now-, he came around. 

"What are you guys doing?" The thing in Louie's body suddenly asked. 

They all knew it was imperative it didn't know what was going on. "Just talking." It looked at them for a few seconds with narrowed eyes then shrugged and went back to surveying the cavern. Every one but Huey and Dewey sighed in relief. 

"It knows." Dewey simply said. The others tried not to look at it in terror. _Oh no._ "What do we do now?" 

"Now," Donald replied. "We have to attack it." 

"Good luck with that." A voice said behind them making them all turn around. Why did that voice sound so familiar? Wait a minute... 

"Magica De Spell. What a surprise." Scrooge venomously said. "Get _out_ of my nephew." 

She regarded him with mock confusion, "Why would I do that? I thought Lena was a good vessel, but this? So much untapped potential, and all in the palm of my hand." And if you thought Donald was angry before... Anger couldn't begin to describe what he was feeling right now. And he didn't have to look at his other boys to know they were feeling the same way. But they had to be careful about this, they didn't want to hurt Louie. 

And she knew that too, which only infuriated him more. 

With a grave look at Scrooge they knew, they didn't have a choice. If Magica was persistent in staying they had to be even more persistent in getting her out. Donald hated that he had to do this, he really did, but what other choice did they have? Louie would know they were just trying to get her out- he was probably -definitely- doing the same. And if all of them were trying they would be successful, they had to be- the alternative was... there was no alternative. They were getting her out. 

He took a deep breath and shot a blast of magic at her, she quickly deflected it and Scrooge made his own move. Which she also deflected. This wouldn't work, they would have to attack at the same time. As they did that the other kids stayed huddled by them, they wanted to help but weren't sure how they could. "There has to be something we can do!" Dewey protested. 

"We can stay here?" Webby suggested and the other two looked at her like she was insane. 

"Louie's our brother. We can't just sit here and do nothing. No, not can't. Won't." 

"The adults can handle it, she'll just hurt you!" As soon as she finished that statement both adults were knocked back into a wall. 

Huey raised an eyebrow, "They can handle it, huh?" He turned to Dewey, "We _need_ to do something, if we can't reach him with our bond we'll do it with words." 

"Right." 

Webby tried to stop them, "You can't be sure that will work. She'll hurt you." She vigorously reiterated, she knew she would- she had seen it first hand. 

"Louie's in there, he would never hurt us." And with that they were off. She ran to Donald to get him to stop them but he just shook his head. She regretfully got the message, if anyone could get her out it was those two. Didn't mean it would be easy to watch. 

Huey and Dewey bravely stood in front of their brother's body and Magica smirked at them, "What just because you're children you think I won't hurt you? Fools." She raised his arms all ready to attack but suddenly got held back by an invisible force. She struggled against it but it only seemed to be getting stronger- like there was some kind of extreme emotion behind it. Magica was the fool, she didn't know just how much Louie cared for his brothers- how he would _never_ let them get hurt. But it was something the two of them knew all too well, they were like that too after all. 

"NO!" Louie's voice suddenly shouted, but it was his actual voice- not Magica's. He was taking back control. But she wasn't going down without a fight. They would have to give him a helping hand. 

"Louie! You can do it, we know you can do it! We believe in you, just keep fighting her!" 

"No!" Magica's voice came out, "He's weak!" 

"NO! I'M! NOT!" A dark shadow was forcefully thrusted out of him and his brothers quickly dodged out of its way. It landed in a corner of the cavern, forming into the solid form Magica De Spell and she glared at all of them before taking off. They were about to go after her when they heard a thud from behind them. 

"Louie!" Everyone cried as they raced forward, his brothers and Dad were the first to get to him and he leaned on Donald. 

"I'm tired."

Donald nodded, "Let's get you home." 


	8. How They Would Get Through This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louie got possessed and no one’s okay.

The plane ride home was quiet. Louie refused to let go of his Dad and his brothers refused to have him out of their sights. The others didn't know what to say so they just didn't say anything. I mean, what could you say to someone who had just gotten possessed? It's wasn't like there was a book for it. And they didn't know him well enough to know how to not make the situation worse. It was better if they just stayed silent. And Louie, understandably, wasn't up to talking. His immediate family didn't want to force him to, especially so soon after the incident, so they mostly just talked amongst themselves. For Huey and Dewey it was not wanting to think about what had happened- if they kept talking they could focus on that instead. Donald wasn't gonna be the one to deny them. 

"I don't know, you'd think I'd be used to planes by now." Huey softly said from his seat next to his Dad. 

"Turbulence is dumb, you can never get used to it." Dewey replied just as soft. 

Huey smiled slightly. "Yeah, it's too unpredictable." The two of them looked at their brother who hadn't moved since they'd gotten on the plane and sighed. Even when they weren't thinking about it they were thinking about it. They subconsciously reached out to him with their energy and became relieved when they were let through without a second thought. His energy wasn't as off as it was earlier and it felt like him again- but there was still something wrong. Obviously. They tried to use theirs to comfort him as the three of them had done in the past and for the most part it was working but they knew this time it wouldn't be enough. Things weren't simple enough to be solved by some comfort- powerful as it was. This didn't have an easy fix, that didn't mean they were gonna give up -however- it just meant they would try harder. They'd do anything to help their brother get better, no matter how long it took. 

And as if feeling their determination Louie let out a small smile while buried in his Dad. They were the best. If he had them he would be able to get through anything.

It was hard- he felt like a stranger in his own body, he felt _violated_. And he absolutely despised Magica De Spell with a passion- while simultaneously being terrified of her. He wanted to do whatever he could to get his mind off of it but he couldn't think about anything else. He focused on his brothers and their energy, immediately noting the difference and latched onto it. Everything he was feeling suddenly drifted from his mind, if he could just hang out to that he would be fine. But no, they would get tired eventually, he couldn't do that to them. They wouldn't stop comforting him but sooner or later he would have to make them stop using their energy to do it. 

If they overexerted themselves because of him he would just feel even more awful. 

Somehow he managed to fall asleep during the plane ride. He knew this cause when he opened his eyes again he was being carried to his room, he thought about letting his Dad know he was awake by decided against it. This felt nice, and he deserved to feel nice right now. 

* * *

When the boys got to their room Huey and Dewey's first reaction was to get ready for bed. It had been a long day and even if sleep wouldn't come easy they wanted to try. Louie, as far as everyone else knew, was still asleep. Donald placed him in his bed then turned to the other two. "I need to talk to Scrooge about some things but if you three need me don't hesitate to find me." 

They nodded and their Dad left after giving them one last look over. The two of them climbed in their brother's bed- they would definitely be sleeping there for a while. As soon as they did so he opened his eyes and stared at Dewey's bunk. "I fell asleep." He simply said. 

"That's... good, right?" Dewey asked uncertainly. 

Louie hummed, "I didn't think I would. And I didn't have any nightmares, so that was good. But I think it was just cause I was exhausted, I'm not anymore." 

"Makes sense. Fighting her must've taken a lot of energy." Louie nodded. "Do you think you can sleep now? We're right here, we're not going anywhere." That would make him feel better, knowing his brothers were with him. It always helped Huey so it should help him. Unless, that was somehow the problem? Ugh, he really wished he knew what he was doing. He had to figure this out, Louie needed them, needed him. He was the oldest, he should know how to handle this. But he didn't even know how _he_ was handling it. That was the scariest thing he had ever seen, ever _felt_. He couldn't even imagine how Louie was feeling- but he could feel it, and it was nothing good. 

"Okay, that's good. I really need you guys right now. You don't need to have all the answers, just be here." Right, the feeling thing went both ways. Sometimes it was hard to remember. "I don't know if want to go back to sleep. It's not like it was easy for me to before but now it just feels impossible. You guys are exhausted, you sleep. If I need something or I get scared I'll wake you up, promise." They looked at him for a few seconds before nodding and getting comfortable. They were out within seconds.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. This was never supposed to happen." Donald said to Scrooge as he paced in his office. "I placed a spell on them and everything! How could she break through it?! It was specially made so that wasn't possible, but she did!" He turned to his Uncle, "What am I supposed to do now, Uncle Scrooge?" 

His Uncle looked at him sympathetically and gestured for him to sit down, which he did. "The only thing yew can do fer him now is be there. Besides, there's a silver linin' in this- havin' a hard life can do wonders fer someane. Just look at yew!" 

Donald fought the urge to roll his eyes, his Uncle was unbelievable sometimes. "You don't need a hard life to turn out fine, I'm not putting the boys through that. They’ve already been through enough." And look at him, he was a _mess_. "You better not say anything like that in front of them. Actually, if I wasn't so preoccupied right now I'd punch you for saying it." 

"Fair enough." Well, at least he knew he was unbelievable. 

"I just," Donald sighed. "Things were fine, they were going good! Does this family all have some form of bad luck or something?! And why did it have to be Louie, why not one of us?! This isn't fair, he's just a kid. They all are, they shouldn't- they shouldn't have to deal with this." He finished softly. 

"We shouldnae have gone there." Scrooge agreed. 

"I should've said something sooner."

Scrooge slammed his hands down on his desk. "This was not yer fault, Donald! It's Magica's and no ane else's! And ae will not have yew thinkin' otherwise!" 

Donald gave a small smile, "Thanks, Uncle Scrooge." After that he left his office and went to check on the boys. Huey and Dewey were fast asleep but Louie was now awake, of course he wouldn't be up to sleeping right now. The fact that he fell asleep on the plane was a miracle and just cause he was exhausted. ...If he wanted to stay up tonight Donald wouldn't stop him but he did need to sleep eventually. Especially with what his sleep schedule was before. He could understand the urge to avoid it, he was the same way, but he also knew how bad it was. He quietly entered the room and raised a questioning eyebrow at Louie after he saw him.

"I'm fine right now." He said quietly and Donald nodded, that was a small relief. Then he came further in the room and silently sat in the desk chair. 

"I know you probably don't want to talk right now and that's fine. But when you do I'm here for you, we all are." 

Louie smiled at him, "I know, Dad, thanks... Could you stay here tonight?" 

Like he was going anywhere else. "Of course." He climbed in the bed and expertly maneuvered all three boys into his lap. Louie immediately clung to him once again and Donald ran his head through his hair comfortingly. This poor kid, he would get through it, but it would be one hell of a ride. 

The next morning wasn't any better, for any of them. Louie didn't feel like eating anything so he didn't- he was only at the table cause he didn't want to be away from his brothers and they were hungry. And they were eating, but most of their attention was on him, like he'd break if they weren't there- which, was entirely possible. Or maybe they would break if they couldn't see him, again, entirely possible. Donald was trying to focus on his conversation with Scrooge but was too worried about the fact Louie hadn't eaten his food yet, among other things. He probably wasn't going to, which was even more worrying. Food and sleep were both important things and he wanted neither of them, it would just make this whole thing harder than it already was.

Webby wanted to say something to him but wasn't sure what and she didn't want to make things worse, or overstep somehow. He probably wouldn't want her help- not when he had his brothers and Dad. And Scrooge had no idea had to handle this, Donald and Della had never gotten possessed at that age, it was after they were more experienced adventures and could shrug it off. But Louie, he was much too young and sensitive for that. And like Webby he didn't want to make things worse, it was bad enough he had done that with Donald yesterday. He couldn't mess anything else up. This family was the best thing to ever happen to him, he couldn't jeopardize that again. 

Dewey nudged his younger brother slightly, trying to get him to eat. And because Louie was Louie he knew he would, he _hated_ disappointing either of his older brothers. It was good in times like this- no mattered how much Dewey hated them. "I don't see why I need to do this but fine." See, he knew his brothers well. 

"Eating's important, it gives our brains and bodies energy." Huey replied. "Plus, Mrs. B's pancakes are the _best_." 

"Hey!" Their Dad protested, which got a laugh out of everyone. For the first time since the incident happened it felt like things were normal, even if just for a second. It was something they all needed, and tried desperately to cling to. It wouldn't work, it never did. 

"I don't think I can eat anymore." Louie admitted after a few bites. 

"That's alright, something's better than nothing. You can put the rest in the fridge if you want." Donald told him and he looked at his plate before offering the rest to his brothers, who took it without a second thought. They would get Louie to eat more later, but right now they were still pretty hungry. Huh, maybe their bond had something to do with that. Like they were eating more to compensate for his part or something. Well, if he ended up getting the excess energy they wouldn't complain. 

After breakfast was done everyone took their time excusing themselves from the table, just wanting to be near each other after such a traumatic event. But eventually they started getting up one by one until only the boys really remained. They weren't in any hurry, and it wasn't like they had anything else to do. No, they would be taking it very easy for a while. Whether that would help or not was to be determined. 

"Do you guys wanna move to the den....?" Dewey asked unusually hesitant. It was clear he didn't know what to do, none of them did. But it was Louie and his brothers knew how to handle him- that hadn't changed. And they knew that it hadn't, so why was this so hard? 

"Sure." Huey answered and Louie stared at his brothers for a few seconds, as if looking for something, before shrugging. And with that the three of them got up and made their way there. By the time they got there things weren't as hesitant as they were before, like they remembered just who they were with and that they didn't need to have any hesitancy between them. They were too close for that. And that closeness was how they would get through this, even if it took them a while. 

* * *

The girls didn't know how to be around the boys without things being awkward so they went off on their own. They would give Louie the space he needed, and Lena was quite certain his brothers would yell at them if they upset him so she didn't want to chance that. Besides, being around him was bringing up stuff of her's that she didn't want to bring up. No, that stuff was better buried deep _deep_ down. She just couldn't believe it happened in the first place- these people were the adventure family, shouldn't they know better by now? 

"What are thinking about, Lena?" Webby asked her curiously and she really couldn't lie to Webby, no matter how she may want to sometimes. 

"About everything that's happened lately." 

Webby nodded, "With Louie?" 

"Mmm-hmm. He got himself possessed." She stated matter of factily. 

"No one knew what it did." Webby protested. 

"Then why did he touch it?"

"Because he's Louie! That doesn't make it his fault he was possessed. You of all people should know what that's like." Oh. Yeah, she _definitely_ got that part. Ugh, just the thought of it... She didn't wish that on anyone. But it did happen to someone- someone who she knew what he was going through. Someone who knew what she was going through. She would have to talk to him, eventually. She had a few things she had to sort out first. 

The mansion was quieter than Scrooge was used to- it was unsettling. It reminded him of before. But this wasn't before, people were here- they just weren't making any noise. Something told him it'd be that way for a while. 

He wanted to check on the boys, he wanted to check on Donald. There were so many things he wanted to do, where could he even begin? Well, the lads were definitely together so he better start with Donald. No doubt his nephew was wallowing in wrongful blame and an unnormal amount of worry. Now where to find him? Hmm, there was only one place he could really be. The houseboat. Too far away from his boys and the rest of the family, the former who really needed him right now. He made his way to the houseboat, noticing the boys in the den and nodded satisfyingly- they looked alright for now. He entered the houseboat without knocking and immediately located his nephew. 

"Donald, care ta tell me what yer doin' in here? Last ae checked ye moved inta the mansion." 

"I just needed a minute." He replied without looking at him; Scrooge sat next to him. Donald leaned his head on his Uncle, "Uncle Scrooge, how could I let this happen?" 

Scrooge sighed and wrapped an arm around him. "It's not yer fault, Lad. Ae know, yer their parent, yer the ane that's supposed ta look after them- but yew cannae stop them from gettin' hurt, yew can only be there fer them when it happens. They'll get through this, yew'll get through this. They get their resilience from ye after all." 

"And I get mine from you. And my mom." Scrooge chortled, that he did. 

"Ready ta head back in?" 

"Can we stay here a little longer? It's nice." Scrooge couldn't find it in himself to protest. It wasn't often they did this anymore, but they both needed the comfort. They were stubborn in their own right but sometimes that needed to be pushed aside, they couldn't be stubborn right now- they need to be there for the kids. And that meant they had to be there for each other as well. Besides, Scrooge didn't have a lot of people who could give him comfort and neither did Donald. So if they were gonna get through this they had to lean on each other. And they _were_ gonna get through this, this family could get through anything as far as he was concerned. 

Louie mindlessly searched through his drawers for his pajamas. He was kind of just going through the motions at this point, he _was_ thinking about what happened to him but he also wasn't- like he wouldn't be able to handle thinking about the full extent of it. And he probably wouldn't, to be fair, it was a lot. But he had to fully think about it eventually. That wouldn't be fun, the longer he could delay it the better. 

Dewey entered his room to see his brother standing at their dresser -just standing at their dresser- and tried to get his attention, "Louie. Louie. LOUIE!" He jumped and glared at Dewey, 

"You weren't responding."

He hadn't, he hadn't heard him at all. That was probably something to be worried about. Eh, there was always later. "Sorry, what?"

"I just wanted to know how you're doing." 

"I'm fine."

That was the biggest lie Dewey had ever heard. "Louie, you're the farthest from fine you've ever been. You don't have to talk but don't lie to me." Louie looked at him and nodded, giving him an apologetic look. Dewey immediately forgave him- he was dealing with a lot right now, they all were. As long as he didn't try to do it on his own they would be okay. That was honestly Dewey's biggest fear- second biggest, his first biggest had already happened. But he knew his brother and knew he sometimes had a hard time asking for help, he really hoped this wouldn't be one of those times. 

He wouldn't know what to do if his brother closed himself off, he would be more scared than he already was. But this wasn't about him, it was about Louie and he needed to act like it was, he couldn't make this about himself. Even if he had felt everything he hadn't actually gotten possessed and he couldn't act like he did. It wasn't fair to Louie and he would hate himself if he ever made things unfair for his brothers. 

"Hey, remember when we're were six and you promised to tell me how you were feeling? Tell me how you're feeling, Dewey." Louie demanded and Dewey swore he could hear his thoughts. How did he always know when something was up with him? 

"This isn't about me." He protested. 

Louie leveled him with a glare. "I'm texting Huey. We're fixing this. _Now_." 

When Huey entered the room Louie immediately pushed him onto his bed where their other brother already was. The two of them looked at each other and then at their pacing brother. Huey was about to speak before Louie shook his head. He closed his mouth, looking at his brother worriedly. 

"This whole thing the two of you have about this not affecting you needs to stop, now. I'm not stupid, I can feel what you're feeling, I _know_ it's been affecting you. This isn't just about me, it's about _all_ of us. You can't just not think about yourselves, it doesn't help anyone. Please, don't be so focused on me that you neglect yourselves." He desperately pleaded. 

"Louie, it didn't happen to us-" 

"You saw it, you _felt_ it! Everything I felt, everything I'm feeling, everything I'm dealing with you're dealing with as well as your own stuff! You shouldn't feel bad for wanting to talk about it! You shouldn't be keeping any of this in! We help each other, that's how we've always worked. It's not stopping now, not if I have anything to say about it. And I have a _lot_ to say about it." He sat next to them and they quickly gathered him in a hug, holding onto him as tightly as they could. He was their baby brother and they almost lost him, how could that happen? And with that, they both started crying- which made Louie start crying as well. But it was better than before, he was sure of it. 

They had to be there for each other and they had to be honest with how they were feeling. _That_ was how they would get through this. 


	9. When One of Them Isn't Okay None of Them are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things get researched and Louie talks about what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: talk of murder towards the end.

The next day the boys decided they wanted to have a magic lesson, maybe it would be a good step in helping them get over what happened. Maybe it would stop something like this from ever happening again- if they were more prepared they could easily prevent it, right? 

Yeah, that was definitely how it worked. Now they just needed to find their Dad. 

He was probably in the most obvious place- his room, so they went there first. When they got there they saw that the door was already open so they just went in. Their Dad was sitting on his bed, looking through something; he stopped when he noticed them. They climbed onto the bed and sat around him, Louie sitting the closest. "What's up, boys? Everything okay?" 

They looked at each other, "Fine, we were just wondering if we could have another magic lesson?" Donald tried not to look at them surprised- one, this soon? He wasn't sure that was the best idea but if they really wanted to he'd give them one. It would just be more relaxed than usual. 

"If you really want to, sure. Wanna stay in here or move to our room?" None of them moved so he just got started, after thinking of a good one. "Alright, so it's been brought to my attention with recent events that you three need to know how to fight. Which is why I think it's time I teach you offensive magic. So it works in the opposite way of defensive, it's specifically for when you need to attack something or someone. There aren't as many ways to use it as there are with defensive, which is one of the reasons I taught you that one first. The purpose of it is to get whatever's attacking you away from you, only hurt whatever it is if you have to." Donald made sure to stress. He wanted them to be able to protect themselves but if they went around hurting people willy-nilly they would lose who they were. 

"Can we try?" Dewey excitedly asked. 

Donald looked at them hesitantly, "If you're up to it." 

Huey and Dewey immediately started to practice but Louie was more relucent. He wasn't picking it up as fast as he usually did, and something happened as soon as he started to make progress. As soon as magic left his fingertips he freaked out and lept away from it - and that was when his brothers' magic began acting up. They quickly got it back under control and stopped it. It was just as Donald feared, it was too soon. 

He turned to a shaking Louie and pulled him closer to him comfortingly, then turned to the other two and wordlessly offered to do the same. But they just shook their heads and looked at their brother. "Are you scared of your magic now?" Huey asked unsurely. 

"No, I just- saw something. Like, in my mind." Louie tried to explain, he didn't think he was doing a good job. "The magic left me and I saw, _her_. I'm not scared of it." Huey nodded. He was scared of Magica.

Donald wished he could say that she couldn't get him again -he really did- but they didn't know where she was. They needed to find out. He would go see his Uncle about it later, he would definitely agree with him, but right now his boys needed him. That always took precedent. "If you three need a break right now that's completely fine. Don't push yourselves, your magic'll still be there when you're ready for it again." 

"This was a bad idea." Dewey simply said. 

"Well, now we know." Huey replied. Donald offered them his arms again and this time they took them. The boys curled closer to each other and he smiled at them as he began lightly humming. There were some more things he could say but now wasn't the right time for them. Now they just needed to be comforted. Which he was always more than happy to do. 

* * *

After the boys were feeling better and had left to do other things Donald went to see Scrooge. The sooner they started this the better. He knocked on his office door and went in when he received an answer. "Donald, what can ae do fer ye?" He walked up to his desk and said in the most serious tone he ever mustered, 

"We need to look for Magica." 

"Ae agree," Scrooge started as he sat down. "The only problem is we have no idea where ta start. Is there some sort of spell ye can do ta find out?" He must be really serious about this, Donald noted, he willingly asked about magic. This was the first time that had happened since he found out they had it. If it wasn't such an urgent time he'd be proud of his Uncle. But it was, and every fiber of his body was continuously reminding him that it was. Back to the spell, there were actually a few but which one would work the best? Which one would guarantee accurate results?... There was only one he could think of. 

"There is, it's called the Track Descendit Hominem spell. It tracks the person through their energy, provided you have something of theirs. Do we have something of hers?" 

"We do, lad." Scrooge responded, holding out her orb. "She left this behind after she fled, ae figured it was better oaf here than there. This good enough?" 

Donald took it from him, "It's perfect." He gathered all the materials he needed for the spell from his room and began the spell. His Uncle had followed after him just as determined to know as he was. It was a relief he wasn't in it alone honestly.

He set a piece of cloth on the ground and drew a rune on it, then set the orb on it. He flipped through his spellbook until he came across the spell he needed then cleared his throat and began speaking, "I want to know where the owner of this thing is, I want to know where this person is hiding, show me Magica De Spell!" An image of Magica appeared in his mind and he looked around for anything he could recognize. He did recognize something, but he wished he didn't. It was the amphitheater. She was here in Duckberg. No, that wouldn't do, they had to get her out, immediately. They had two kids who were terrified of seeing her again. She had to go. 

"She's here, Uncle Scrooge. In Duckberg." He gravely told him; his reaction was instant. 

"She's here, what in the blazes is she doin' here?!?!?!?" Donald quickly shushed him. "Well, we hafta get rid o' her, she _cannae_ be allowed the kids again." 

"Good, we agree on that. Now how do we do it?" 

He didn't want to be alone, Louie quickly realized, when he was alone he had nothing to distract him from his thoughts. His thoughts were not good right now. They mostly consisted of his possession and how scared and out of control he had felt during it. And now he couldn't even use his magic without thinking of it! His magic had become a steady comfort to him over the years but now it was associated with something bad, with someone bad. He hated Magica and he didn't think that lightly. She was the worst person in the world according to him. She tried to hurt his family, and she tried to used him to do it. 

_He_ almost hurt his family. If his brothers hadn't gotten through to him who knew what could've happened?

Oh god his brothers, he could've hurt his brothers. _She_ could've hurt his brothers. Yup, he hated her. But he was also terrified of her, of her somehow getting to him again. He didn't know if he was strong enough to fight her off again. It was a miracle he had done it the first time. No it wasn't, his brothers had put themselves in danger to save him- they had known he'd be able to fight it if they were in danger, but damn-it if that hadn't been the scariest moment of his life. 

"Louie?" A quiet voice behind him carefully asked. He whirled around to see it was Webby. "What are you doing here?" That was a good question, and where was here exactly? 

"I, don't know." He admitted softly; she looked at him worriedly. He shook his head and started walking towards the foyer- or where he thought the foyer was anyway. But he stopped when he noticed his were the only pair of footsteps that had made any noise. Webby hadn't moved. "Umm, Webs, everything okay?" She was acting weird, weirder than normal, he didn't like it. 

"I should be asking you that." Was what she replied. 

He shrugged, "I'm fine all things considering." She gave him that look that the others said he sometimes gave them- the one that stared right into his soul and saw all the things he kept carefully hidden away. It was unnerving. He didn't like that he was being so easily readable. 

"It isn't good to bottle everything up."

"I'm not, I'm trying to process it all! I almost hurt everyone, I almost hurt my brothers! And they're the two people I swore I'd never hurt." Things went quiet after that and it was clear she didn't know how to respond, but that was fine, he had nothing else to say. He walked away from her and went to seek out one of his immediate family members, he needed to be comforted. When he couldn't find his Dad he tried not to panic and went to find his brothers instead, he stayed with them until it was time for bed. 

Sleep was not a thing he was doing right now so after they drifted off he quietly made his way downstairs. He knew it would be bad if they woke up and he wasn't there but he figured he would get back before they woke up. They seemed to be tired for him lately, they would sleep through the night unless they were physically woken up. Which meant as long as he didn't wake any of the others up he could stay up all night. It wasn't the first time he had done this, even before he had gotten possessed, so he knew what he was doing. He didn't count on anyone else being unable to sleep either. 

It was around two am when he heard a noise in the foyer -he was currently in the den- and played it off as Duckworth doing some ghost thing. Even as his mind told him it wasn't. The only alternative he could think of wasn't good so it had to be that. And then he heard another noise. He clamped down his beak to keep from making a sound and slowly sunk down into the couch. Maybe whatever it was wouldn't seem him if he was hidden. 

"Louie?" That wasn't the case. Luckily he knew who the voice belonged to and that they were no threat to him. He was kind of glad they were there actually. 

"Dad."

His Dad sat down next to him and looked at him with concern, "What are you still doing up?"

Louie leaned into him, "Can't sleep."

Donald nodded understandingly, "Wanna talk about it?" He hoped Louie did but he wouldn't push him if that wasn't the case. Forcing him to talk wouldn't do anything except make him feel pressured and like he didn't have a choice. That was the last thing he needed to feel right now. 

"No, I, I-" Louie cut himself off. He couldn't do it, not right now, he still had too much to sort through. 

"I know, what you went through is something I hoped you boys never would." But they did, and Donald had no idea how to deal with it. He was their parent, he should know this stuff but at the same time, possession? He really shouldn't know this stuff. They had to be McDuck's, they couldn't have just been a nice, normal family, could they? Sometimes he really didn't know how to feel about that. Especially in times like this. He always tried to protect them and when he couldn't he felt like the worst parent ever. But they still loved him, that had to count for something. He had to be doing something right. 

"I'm really scared." Louie quietly admitted. 

"Not sleeping isn't gonna help that, it's just gonna make it worse." His Dad was right, and he knew it. Maybe he should try, his brothers would be there if something happened. He could handle something happening if he was with them. 

* * *

Louie made his way back to his room after assuring his Dad he would be fine but would find him if he needed to. Which, while the truth, he didn't think he would- he hoped he wouldn't anyway. He quietly slipped in through the door and back to his bed, careful not to jostle his brothers' bodies as he got comfortable. It didn't take him long to fall asleep, which was weird, and it also didn't take long for him to wake back up- that wasn't as weird. Fucking nightmares. 

His dream started out normal enough, it was one of his dreams where he was a cat -which were always his favorites- but after a few minutes it began to get scary. He was back in the cave, which should've been the first sign something bad was going to happen. The orb was right in front of him, except this time he knew not to grab, but he did anyway. It was like something was controlling his movements and he had no choice in what he was doing. He was just along for the ride. He felt his body being taken over once again and tried to fight back, just like before. His brothers came up to his body and for the first time since this turned into a nightmare he had hope, this is where he got control back. Only this time, it didn't happen. This time he wasn't strong enough. 

He attacked them without a second thought- no he didn't, she did. But it might as well be him. They collapsed against a wall and he felt like screaming, maybe he was in the real world. Magica started maniacally laughing and he tried everything to get her out of his body, but he kept getting pushed down, to the darkest depths of his mind. There was nothing he could do. He was stuck.

And now he was awake again, and he still felt stuck. But differently. He looked at his brothers who were now awake and watching him, concern written all over their faces. He sunk into them with a sigh, "Nightmare." 

"Wanna talk about it?" He didn't, but he knew it would make him feel better. He explained the whole thing to them as they listened intently, not interrupting even once. When he finished he looked anywhere but their faces. Then realized who he was talking to. "She's not gonna hurt you again, we'll make sure of it." Dewey said as he started running his hand through his hair like their Dad always did when he knew one of them needed comfort. It was nice. 

"She doesn't hurt me, she hurts you: she makes me hurt you, I don't wanna hurt you."

"Oh, Louie..." Huey breathed out. He pulled his younger brothers closer to him, feeling an instinctual need to be as close to them as possible. How could he let him know that they knew that he would never hurt them, how could he make him believe that? He could say it all he wanted but at the end of the day it was up to Louie to believe it, and right now he was having a hard time with that. He was having a hard time with a lot of things, and so were the rest of them. They just had to be there for each other. That was all they could do. 

"It was scary," Louie said after a few minutes of silence, making his brothers look at him. "At first I didn't know what was happening, there was darkness all around and I couldn't feel you guys no matter what I did. Then I heard my voice, but it wasn't me speaking and I tried to call my magic but I couldn't. I wasn't in control at all, I was forced to watch her use my body to hurt our Dad and Uncle. No matter what I did she was just stronger. And then," He paused, trying not to get choked up. "And then you guys got in front of her and I felt fear like I'd never felt it before. When she moved to attack you it was like something unlocked in me, I was just so mad and scared. I'm still scared, what if she gets me again? What if I can't fight her off again?" He had started crying while he was talking and now he was full of sobbing. He clutched onto his brothers as hard as he could as they tried to not start crying themselves. They had to say something to comfort him. 

They shared a look and Dewey dried his eyes as Huey began talking, "We're not gonna let her get you again, okay?" He made sure to say first, Louie _had_ to understand that. "Everything she did, everything she made your body do- that was her, not you. This is not your fault. I know you didn't have any control then, but you do now. Whatever you need, whatever you need from us, from the others, we will do it. Just say the word. And I know you're scared, we're scared too, but we're here, the three of us are here and we're safe. _Nothing_ is getting in the mansion." 

Dewey took over from there, "You're strong, Louie, you're so strong. You can do anything you put your mind to, you fought her off once, you can do it again if -and that's a huge if- it happens again. ...Seeing us in front of her was the scariest thing you've ever experienced, huh?" Louie nodded. "But hey, you stopped her from hurting us, just like we knew you would. I know the thought of us putting ourselves in danger to save you is terrifying, but we know you would do the same for us. And we know you would never hurt us." He gently made his brother look at him. "You would never hurt us, Louie." 

"She almost did-" Louie tried to protest. 

"And you stopped her." Dewey repeated. "You would never hurt us or let us get hurt, that's just how the three of us are. We trust you, Louie, you should trust yourself." His brother didn't say anything to that and Dewey knew he'd think about it. 

"I wanna kill her." He said after Louie fell asleep. His brothers hoped he would stay asleep this time, they themselves, however, were no longer tired. 

Huey looked at his brother. "Dewey." 

"No, I mean it, I want her dead. She doesn't get to do this to our brother, she doesn't get to hurt him like this and not pay for it." And Huey got it, he did, but this wasn't Dewey. He couldn't let his brother continue to think like this. He forced him to look at him, 

"The adults will handle this, you can't think like that, Dewford. I get it, but you can't let yourself become so blinded by anger that you lose yourself. I know this isn't fair and that it sucks, I know that you feel useless and scared and angry but he needs us right now. We need each other right now. I want to, believe me I do, but we have to leave it to them. They're looking for her, they'll find and deal with her. We have to trust them. We can't think those things." No matter how much he wanted to. And he really wanted to. Being the oldest was hard sometimes. 

Dewey looked at their little brother then back at Huey, "What if we find her first?" 

But sometimes it wasn't. "Then I'd hate to be her." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> track descendit hominem- track down a person


	10. An Unwelcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone comes home and no one is prepared.

After Huey and Webby summoning the dead and Dewey taking the sandals of Hermes Donald needed a nap, and what better place to get one than his Uncle's closet? It wasn't like anyone, sans Scrooge, really went in there and he would have no reason to at four in the afternoon. It was perfect. He'd just nap for a few hours and then be ready to deal with his family's shenanigans once again. 

He got that they were trying to get things normal again and he didn't exactly want to stop them but it was exhausting. He was starting to molt from all of the stress lately, and that really wasn't good. He didn't blame them, he would never blame them, but the fact was that he needed some form of a break. And soon, he was starting to bald. So thank god for quiet places like his Uncle's closest, just as he thought that the door opened. That was just his life, wasn't it?

“Huey and Dewey told me what they did, I need a nap too.” Louie said climbing into the hammock, Donald smiled but then they both saw a goat in there. They shared a look before pushing it out. 

“Cool a goat!” Webby shouted from outside the closet. Louie snickered as he cuddled into Donald but then looked at him worriedly. 

"Are you okay, Dad?" 

Donald got more comfortable and smiled at him reassuringly, "I will be after a nap." It wouldn't fix everything but it would definitely help, both of them. He placed a kiss on Louie's head and ran his fingers through his hair until he passed out. He quietly sighed, Louie didn't deserve to have this happen to him, his blood boiled at the thought of it. No, no stress right now, he needed to relax. Louie was fine, the other kids were fine, he could rest for a while. He's more than earned it. They both have. 

"Wait, someone made a quill to mark down the world's greatest undiscovered treasures?" Huey asked. 

"No." Scrooge said shortly and signed, "Let me explain again." Everyone was currently in the den talking about a quill Scrooge recently acquired. Some of them were having a hard time wrapping their heads around it, as you can see. Normally they would be using this quill to go on some sort of adventure but they all agreed it was way too soon. So instead Scrooge was just showing it off and explaining what it did, to varying reactions. Honestly, he thought they'd be more excited about it. Maybe the timing was off, they just weren't interested in anything supernatural right now- or they were confused by it, that could work too.

His ramblings were cut off by a knock at the door, he harrumphed and got up to answer it. Curious, the others followed after him. What was there was something they never could have expected. "'Sup, party people! I'm back in the hizou- Oh, no, knew it was wrong as soon as I said it. Sorry, that was terrible. Can I get a do-over?" Everyone froze. Then Scrooge unfroze. 

He ran forward and swept Della up in a giant hug, as everyone else was still too shocked to do anything. They had a short conversation then Scrooge looked down at her leg- the one made of metal. "Lost it in the crash." She admitted sheepishly. 

Scrooge grinned at her, "Out o' rocket parts! Brilliant! Leg or no, yer every bit the woman yew were 10 years ago." And that was when Donald unfroze, it was her, it was really her! After all these years his sister was home again! He had a lot of feelings flowing through him but right now he was too overjoyed to focus on any of the others. "Della!" He yelled as he pushed Scrooge aside. 

"Donnie..." She breathed. Tears clouded in both of their eyes and they grabbed each other in of hug of their own. They held onto one another as tight as they could while breathing each other in. This was a reunion that was long overdue. Then Della seemed to realize something. "My boys, where are my-" She paused as she focused on them then dropped to her knees. The triplets looked at each other unsurely and didn't budge from their spots. 

Donald and Scrooge shared a look, "Boys, meet your mother, Della Duck. Della, meet Huey, Dewey, and Louie." 

Della smiled at them but then frowned, "Wait, Huey, Dewey, and Louie? No, no, no...their names were supposed to be Jet, Turbo, and Rebel." She turned to her brother, "Donald, I told you, I wrote it down!" 

"Della, those are not proper names for children." The two of them bickered and Scrooge watched with a fond smile, he had missed this. While that was happening the boys were having another silent conversation. Della was back, she was alive and she was here... weren't they dealing with enough? They didn't want her back, they were better off when she was gone. Why was everyone else acting like this was such a good thing? It wasn't, they had enough going on right now, she complicated things too much.

Suddenly everything became too much for Louie, he bolted. 

* * *

The others looked after Louie, some more lost than others. The remaining triplets turned to their Dad and he nodded at them, they took off without a word. Donald sighed and offered Della a hand up; she took it, latching onto it like it was a lifeline. Well, it was nice to know some things hadn't changed. "What was that about? Why did he just run off like that?" She asked the rest of them. Mrs. Beakley led the girls out of the room, knowing this was a private conversation and Della turned to remaining occupants for an explanation. 

"Louie- the one who ran off, is going through a lot right now. We all are but he's been affected the most." Della looked at Donald confused. "He was possessed by Magica De Spell." She gasped quietly then got a steeled look on her face. 

"Tell me everything." 

Louie ran out of the mansion and into the backyard as he tried not to cry. It wasn't fair, he had just gotten possessed and now she was here?! Why couldn't he ever catch a break? He didn't even know how to feel about this, his feelings about her are pretty clear at this point, but now she's here. And he'd be stupid if he thought it didn't change anything. But see, these last few days had made him even more afraid of change. The last change that had happened he had gotten possessed so in his mind change was bad. It didn't help that he really didn't have a nice thing to think about her. 

He heard a noise behind him and looked to see it was his brothers, he weakly smiled at them then sat on the porch steps. They were quick to join him. "Sorry, for taking off like that. Needed some air." 

"It's alright, we get it." Huey was quick to reassure. "This is a lot. And we were already dealing with a lot. Kinda regretting not talking before, now." 

"A lesser person would rub this in." Louie replied thoughtfully. He _told_ them not to keep things to themselves, they should really listen to him more often. 

Huey looked at him, "And if we were someone else you would."

"A little, yeah." The three of them snickered but then quickly sobered up. Louie looked at his brothers and grabbed their hands, they squeezed back and smiled at him, 'we're here for you' they seemed to say. He smiled back. They would figure this out, it still wasn't fair to any of them but it wasn't like they had any choice. And that really wasn't fair either. It was their lives, they should get some say in what happened, but lately it seemed like that was the last thing they got. Instead they mostly got things that made them feel like the whole world was against them. At least they weren't against each other, they weren't sure that would ever be possible. Thank god. 

None of them moved from their spots so it was clear they weren't ready to go in just yet, they would probably be out there for a while. But they wanted to do anything but think of their current circumstances, which was hard when everything surrounding them reminded of them. So they did what they did whenever they wanted to distract themselves, they did magic. Or two out of three of them did anyway. Louie watched his brothers then took in a deep breath of air. He could do this, he didn't have to be scared of her, he didn't have to think about her, he could do this. 

The air around them seemed to still as he held out his hand and made a simple ball of light. He was able to keep it conquered for a couple of seconds before he had to stop it. Bad thoughts were starting to occur. His brothers cheered and tackled him in a hug, they stayed like that for a few moments before deciding to collapse on the steps. 

"We have to go in, don't we?" Dewey sighed. 

"Eventually." He fought back another sigh at his older brother's answer, he didn't want to go back in there, ever! She left them, she split their family up, she didn't deserve to be a part of it again. Why did she have to be back now? They were moving on from her, their family was coming together again without any tension or awkwardness, but now that would all be back. They were back at square one. They might as well have never made any progression at all! ...He liked where they were now, he didn't want them to go back to square one. How would they deal with Louie's possession if they were back there, how would he deal with it? He needed his family's support, all three of them did, would they get now? Or would they be left to deal with it on their own? No, he had to have more faith in his Dad and Uncle. They would be there for them, but who would be there for them? 

"So let me get this straight," Della said to Donald and their Uncle, the three of them still in the foyer. She started pacing, "There was a cave and her orb just happened to be in it? It got transported there after a _swarm of shadows attacked our family_ and no one knew it was there? A random cave in the middle of nowhere of all places? And then _my son_ somehow got a hold of the orb and she possessed him? And now he's traumatized by it and so are the rest of my boys? Am I all caught up?" 

"On that at least." Donald elbowed his Uncle and glared at him then softened his look as he turned to his sister. 

"I know, this sucks, a lot. And all you want to do is either fight Magica or wrap him up and never let him go, I get it. This wasn't what you were expecting to come back to and there's still so much we need to talk about, about everything. You need to give them space and you _definitely_ need to eat something." She cracked a smile at that. "We'll figure this out, all of it. It'll just take some time." 

He gave her another hug, one that he found very hard to break up, but he had to go find his boys. He had to see how they were doing. As much as he didn't want to let his sister out of his sight they took precedent, they always did. After she and Scrooge got into the kitchen he headed outside, he pushed open the patio door and smiled at the sight he fell upon. The three of them were all tangled up in each other looking content as could be. It was heartwarming. He sat down on the steps next to them making them look at him, he gave them a small smile. "How are you doing, boys?" 

"Bad." Dewey said honestly and he nodded, that was about right. They all had mixed feeling about Della but their's seemed to be mostly negative. There was no way they were taking this as good. He would have to do something thinking later on how he was taking it, but right now he needed to be there for them. 

"We don't have to call her mom, do we?" Huey asked. 

"No, you don't have to do anything you don't want to. I'm not gonna be the one to force you to accept her, I know that'll be a long process- if it even happens at all. It's fine if you never come around to her, it's fine if you never forgive her, and no matter what happens I will always be your Dad." The three of them smiled at him and he opened his arms for a hug, they jumped into them immediately. A lot of things were changing, but he would always be their Dad and they would always be his boys. 

* * *

Dinner was something, to say the least. The boys didn't really say anything, unless it was Webby who was trying to defuse to tension- she seemed to be more scared of this than they did. That made sense, she cared about them all so much and didn't want to lose any of them, and to be fair her worries were reasonable. If the family were to split apart again it would be now, but she was still new to the whole family thing, she didn't know that none of them were willing to let that happen again. They would get through all this and they would do it together. But until she figured that out the boys were more than happy to comfort her. 

Della tried asking them all sorts of questions about themselves. Questions that Dewey, against his better judgment, answered. He tended to do that a lot, put the attention all on him. The others thought it was a problem but he knew it wasn't, the only problem was when he did it when he didn't want to, like now. Now he wanted to do nothing more than to sink into his chair and never talk again but it still wasn't that big of a deal. He only made himself the center of attention so often cause he knew how much his brothers didn't want to be. And he was willing to be uncomfortable for their comfort, even in moments like this. Of course, the issue with having a Dad attentive as their's was was that he knew all about it and tried to stop him whenever he could. 

Which was why it wasn't surprising when he started to question Della about her time on the moon. Dewey quietly let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and tuned in to Webby and Lena's conversation. Even if he was interested in the moon he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that. Huey, however, was a different story.

This was kind of bittersweet for him, on one hand, as long as he could remember he was fascinated by the moon and space, on the other hand, Della was the one tell him about it and all it did was make him think of how she left. How she left them, how she left her family, and all for a giant rock. He suddenly hated space. If it wasn't there it wouldn't have taken her away, although something told him something else would have. She hadn't been ready for them then, what made him sure she was ready now? They already had a parent who, while not having been ready at all stayed anyway. They didn't need anyone who left. Then of course there was her timing, which was as bad as it could be. This was all too much for them and sooner or later they would crumble from the pressure. He could feel himself already starting to. 

He reached for his brothers' energy and felt them latch onto his as tightly as he had theirs. They wouldn't last much longer. They had to get out of here. "Can we be excused?" He asked his Dad. 

"Sure." They left without another word and Donald watched after them, he would have to check on them later. "So the moon, huh?" He asked Della awkwardly. 

"Yup." She replied just as awkward. They fell silent. It was weird, after ten years apart they didn't know what to say to each other. He was about to say something that she cut off, "Donald, I really don't want to fight right now." She said tiredly. 

"Yeah," He sighed. "I don't want to either." His overjoyedness was starting to wear off faster than he wanted and emotions he didn't want to associate with his sister were beginning to bubble up. He wanted to tell her off for leaving her family- her boys, for being so reckless and impulsive. He wanted to know why she hadn't thought for once in her life and why she never listened to him when it mattered. But most importantly he wanted to tell her how distraught he had been without her, how much he missed her, he wanted her to know had badly she had messed up. But, she already knew that. He could tell in her mannerisms and the way she was being very careful in what she was saying, like she didn't want to screw anything else up. 

It made him want to hug her again. 

This wasn't just her fault, logically he knew that, knew that his Uncle had a role to play in it too and he had forgiven him, he could forgive her too. But he had never really been mad at her, he thought she was dead- how do you be mad at a dead person? He had spent the past ten years grieving her and now? Now he was mad. But he didn't want to fight with her, it had been a long day, on top of an already long week. He just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a week, or a month- that sounded good. It would certainly help with his stress. Her being back did not. Ugh, he should've hidden out in the Houseboat instead, maybe he'd still be sleeping then, probably not. 

"Tell me about the boys." Della pleaded, and that was something he could do, something he always dreamed of doing. So he did, he told her all about them -except that they had magic, he figured they should tell her themselves- and she listened with an amount of attentiveness that he had never seen in her before. It made him think she was willing to put in the effort to fix this, and that made him feel a little better. 

Honestly, he would take it at this point. "They're really great boys, Della, but you really hurt them. And with everything else already going on... I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to avoid you." 

"I deserve it. But I'm going to make things right." She said determinedly. "With everyone." 

"O' course ye are, yer Della Duck!" Their Uncle clasped a hand on her shoulder though Donald noticed it was a little tense. Looked like he wasn't the only one with mixed emotions. "If anyane can do it it's yew!" He gave her a smile that was also tense and got out of his seat. Huh, they were the last ones left, how about that? Donald fought the urge to get out of his own seat knowing that wouldn't help anything. And he wasn't entirely sure her being alone right now was the best idea. But he didn't know how long he could be around her while keeping his temper in check. 

She looked at him as if reading his thoughts, "You don't have to stay here, Donald." He didn't move. "Seriously I'll be fine, I'll just go help Agent 22 with the dishes or something. Don't force yourself to be around me." 

"I'm not-" He tried to protest. 

"You are. You're upset with me, I get it, I'm upset with me too. You don't have to put me first this time, let me put you first. After everything I've done it's the least you deserve." He fought back a gulp and nodded then slowly got up, she gave him a smile he couldn't quite match and he left, having only one destination in mind. The walk there he was on autopilot, not really being able to think about anything, just going through the motions. He stood at the door for a few seconds, trying to work up the nerve to knock. He softly did so and entered the room, ready for whatever would happen next. 


	11. Hard Times Means Hard Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Della tries to fit back into the family and Louie gets some unexpected help.

The boys were all piled on Louie's bed which really wasn't a surprise and looked like they had been talking about something before he knocked. He felt bad about interrupting them but he needed to check on them. Overall they seemed as fine as they could be but he knew there was more going on underneath the surface. They were overwhelmed and they didn't know how to deal with it. If he was being honest he didn't know how to deal with it either, any of it, and that was terrifying. He couldn't imagine how terrifying it must be for them. But he did know staying silent wouldn't fix anything. 

"I know a lot's going on and it sucks that you boys have to experience all this but you can get through it. And you're not alone, the rest of us are here for you, you're here for each other. This is gonna be hard, but we're a family and there's nothing we can't deal with as long as we're together." He also knew that not being alone made things less terrifying. And sometimes that was what you needed, not a definitive answer but someone to work through things with. 

Luckily for all of them they had a lot of people to choose from. 

"Thanks, Dad." Huey said quietly. "It's just hard to be around her right now."

Donald nodded, "I get that. Just remember you can't hide from your problems forever, eventually you have to face them." Dewey and Louie made a face at that which made him have to stifle his laughter. 

"I'm good." Louie breezily replied. Donald gave him a mock glare of disapproval before grinning. "No, no no no!" Louie protested, he knew what that grin meant. Donald playfully grabbed him and started tickling his sides as his brothers moved to get away. They didn't do so for long though, Donald grabbed and started tickling them as well, their laughter mixing in with their brother's. He continued for a few moments before Dewey started shouting, 

"Mercy! Uncle! Uncle!" Donald eased off and released them, letting them breathlessly fall on the bed. He plopped down next to them and smiled softly. 

"Better?" 

"Yeah." "Wait, which one?" Dewey asked confused. 

"Both." 

He thought for a second then nodded, "Yeah." He said as well. His Dad ruffled his hair and he quickly fixed it, he hated when he did that. But he meant what he said, the tickle fight had been a nice distraction from everything that was going on. He wished he could get more of those. Despite his Dad being right he wanted to hide from his problems forever, confronting them meant thinking on things he had stopped thinking about. He had already come to a conclusion, why did she have to come back and mess it all up? 

Okay, Della, she thought to herself, this is no big deal, just your first bonding experience with your boys- you can do this. She knew Donald said to give them space, that they didn't want to be around her, but she couldn't just sit there and wait for them to come to her. Who knew how long she'd be waiting? She just needed this one time and then she would back off, she hadn't been around them in ten years, she couldn't keep waiting. Not when they were so close. 

She opened the door to the den where she knew they were, she could practically hear them from across the mansion, and smiled as she watched them play some game. It looked interesting, but wasn't what she was there for. She entered the room and quickly got their attention, one of them -Louie- yelped in surprise and she gave him an apologetic look. Gentle, she had to be gentle with him. She couldn't even imagine what he was going through right now. Well, she kind of could, but that didn't mean it was a good thing. But maybe it was something they could bond over? Look, she was looking for anything here. 

"I'm getting another Pep." He said after he calmed down. His brothers gave him vague responses and he rolled his eyes, at least they weren't scared to not have him directly in their sight anymore, baby steps. 

As he made his way to the kitchen he felt he was being followed and turned to see it was Della. Oh, she was hovering, that made sense. It didn't mean he had to like it. He was mad at her, and her caring about him didn't make that disappear. It made him madder actually, if she cared so much why did she leave? It just didn't make any sense and he needed things to make sense right now. "Do you need something?" He bluntly asked her. She looked at him surprised, yeah, he had that effect on people. 

"I, umm no. I guess I just wanted to see how you were doing?" She said uncertainly and he raised an eyebrow at her. She deflated. "I know you're mad or upset or both at me, and that's totally valid. But you've been through _a lot_ , like more than someone your age should ever have to go through, and I wanted to see how you were holding up." She was rambling, she always did that when she was nervous. And who would've thought? Della Duck, nervous around her own kid, it wasn't right, but it was what she deserved. 

"Two seconds away from being overloaded thanks to you." Ouch. 

"I know I messed up but I'm doing everything I can to make it right." He turned away from her and continued walking to the kitchen. "Louie-" 

He stopped, "What? You think you can just come and say a few things and be forgiven?" She tried to protest but he ignored it. "You left, you can't come and act like everything is okay! It's not! I was possessed! I almost hurt my family! And you weren't there, but you know who was? Donald, my _actual_ parent. Things were easier when you were gone." He walked away without looking back at her and Della fought back the urge to start crying. He was right. He was so so right. 

What kind of a parent was she? 

Scrooge found her sobbing in a hallway and sighed to himself, what had she gotten herself into now? He pulled her off of the floor and into the nearest room, setting her on the bed and letting her cry it out. He sat next to her and drew her into his arms, having done this whole routine one too many times. The Duck family was definitely emotional.

"Alright, lass, what happened?" He asked once she stopped crying. She explained everything and he nodded along, choosing to wait until she was done to voice his thoughts. And he certainly had a lot of thoughts, though they weren't just directed at her. He forgot how cold Louie could be, he was always around his brothers and he wasn't like that with them. But _oh boy_ was he like that with people he didn't like, and he had no reason to like her. 

Della wiped her eyes, "I get why he said that stuff, and he was right to, I'm upset at myself more than anything. I'm trying to make it right, but what if I can't? What if I hurt everyone too much?" 

"If they can forgive me they can at least come around ta yew." Scrooge replied. "... Ye hafta be patient with all o' us, Della, ye put us through a lot. Ye took the spear and ye hafta deal with the consequences." 

"Being away from my family for ten years wasn't consequence enough?" Della tore herself away from her Uncle. She knew she had to give them time, she knew coming back wouldn't be easy, why did they have to constantly remind her of how badly she messed up? She already knew it, she had been telling herself for years! She had been hoping they'd be understanding of everything she'd been through. She was doing it for them, why weren't they doing it for her? Why did she have to keep suffering? 

"That's not what ae'm sayin'! Ae know yew've been through at a lot as well, lass, and ae'm unbelievably happy yer home but ae'm also mad yew left in the first place. Yew left your family, yer kids, and ae know yew knew that but that dinnae mean we cannae be mad. We thought yew were _dead_ , Della," Della gasped and put a hand up to her mouth. "There was no time ta be mad, except fer the boys, we were ta busy grievin'- and why do ye look like that?" He cut himself off when he noticed she looked like she was about to cry again.

"You didn't get my transmissions?" 

He looked at her sadly, "No, lass, we didnae." And that was when her whole world fell apart. 

She thought that they had been, that if she couldn't be there in person she could at least be there in spirit, that the boys could still get to know their mother and that she could still be there for them. But now she found out that wasn't true, and she didn't know what to do. No wonder they were so mad at her, she hadn't been a presence in their life at all! They didn't know she had been doing everything she could to get back to them. None of them did. 

How could she fix this? 

* * *

"How, how could you not? I sent them, I sent a ton of them! I made cakes and sang lullabies and I was there for my boys! And you all got none of it?" She asked brokenly, Scrooge nodded. "How is that possible? I need to talk to them, they have to know I was trying to get back." She said determinedly. 

"Ae dinnae suppose ae could dissuade yew?" She shook her head and he sighed. "Just be careful." 

She would, she would be super careful, but they had to know. They couldn't go on thinking their own mother didn't want them, they just couldn't. The walk back to the den was nerve-wracking, she tried to think about what she would say exactly and how not to mess it up but came up with nothing. Well, winging it was what she was best at. ...Was she still good at that? She hadn't been the best at it after she got back but on the moon she had been, decent at least. Had coming back messed with her that much? 

Well, even if it had she didn't regret it. There wasn't anything that could make her regret that. True, the boys weren't ecstatic to see her and thought things had been better before, but that would change, she was sure of it. And it started with telling them what they were missing. She just had to go back into the den, that was easy enough, right? Why wasn't she moving? 

"Della, what are you doing?" A voice asked behind her, she turned to see it was her brother and gave him a small smile. 

"Hey, Donald. I need to talk to the boys." He gave her a look. "Don't give me that look! They need to know I was trying to get back to them, that I was sending transmissions- well, they weren't coming through, obviously, but I was trying." 

"Transmissions?" He replied confused. Right, he didn't know either. Oh god, her own brother thought she was dead..... 

She bit back a gulp, "Yeah. Transmissions, I was updating you all on my progress and being there for my boys, you know just trying to stay sane. But according to Uncle Scrooge they never came through, which means the boys think I left them on purpose and didn't just make the biggest mistake of my life. They need to know the truth, Donald." 

And honestly, Donald was torn. Della did deserve to tell them the truth, but his first instinct for the past ten years had been to protect them, and he knew they wouldn't take the information well. There was really no right thing to do in this situation so he had to do what he thought was best. They couldn't know, not right now. Things need to cool down a little first. He looked at his sister, ready to tell her that, but faltered, she really wanted to tell them. Why was he always in this position? "Della..." He sighed and she deflated, knowing what that sigh meant. "It's not a good time, they're dealing with so much and as a parent I, you, we both have to put them first." 

"I've waited for ten years, how long do I have to keep waiting?" 

"This isn't about you!" He exploded and then took a breath to calm down. "I mean it is, but not this part. This is about them and they _have_ to come first, always. You'll be able to tell them eventually, tell them everything but right now they need time. As a parent you have to make tough decisions, welcome to your first one." He chose to leave her alone after that and went to make some lunch for himself, all that- _whatever_ that was, made him hungry. 

Did he think she was a parent or was even ready to be one? No, of course not. Hopefully this made her realize that too. She had no idea what she was doing and he wasn't putting the boys at risk of getting even more hurt like that. He was a parent, he was an expert at making tough decisions. 

Huey exited the den to see Della standing outside of it and froze, oh. She seemed to also freeze once she noticed him so that was something. She gave him a timid smile that he tried to match but wasn't sure how successful he was. He guessed that she wanted to bond with them and that her earlier attempt with Louie hadn't gone well, it wasn't that much of a surprise. He had been acting off since he got back from the kitchen, his brothers suspected she had something to do with it. And now he wasn't sure he wanted to have his own attempt with her, but it didn't seem like he had much of a choice. Or maybe she would read the room and back off. 

"Hey, umm, Je-Huey." Or maybe not. He gave an awkward wave, not sure what else to do. Things were silent for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to do next, until Della spoke again. "What are you guys up to?" 

Oh, he could answer that. "We got bored of videogames so now we're watching TV. ...Did you want to join us?" He hesitantly offered, he didn't know if he wanted her to but he had always been told he was too polite for his own good. It was something he definitely had to start working on. 

"No, I better not. I'd probably just mess it up somehow." She said, rubbing her neck and oof, did he get that. ...He wasn't sure how to feel about that and he hated that there was so much uncertainty surrounding this whole thing. He did better when he knew things, and she threw a wrench in that, why was he trying to be nice to her? Her being here complicated things too much, made him think about things he had long since resolved, made his brothers confused and upset, he shouldn't be being nice to her. 

But because he hated confrontation he didn't say anything. "Maybe. We should probably be alone right now anyway." And was true, all three of them were too on edge to be around everyone else. Something to do with their feelings seeping into each other via their bond. If they were around the others they would get snappy and defensive, it was best if they kept to themselves until they could calm down. Hopefully it would happen soon, he didn't like being this agitated and he knew his brothers didn't either. In fact, the more time he spent away from them the worse him seemed to be getting, he really needed their grounding right now. 

He should go back into the den, but something was keeping him rooted in this spot. "I mean, I don't know if that's true." Della replied without thinking and quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. Huey narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm just saying after everything you all have been through maybe it'd be good to be around the others?" 

"Don't act like you know us." He spat in retort. What right did she have? She had been gone for ten years, she had left their family for some stupid adventure! She had left her _brother_ and had left him to raise her eggs all on his own. What right did she have? 

She quickly tried to do damage control, "No, that's not what I was trying to do! I was just trying to parent, you know use my experiences to help. I don't want to be alone right now and I figured you guys wouldn't either." 

Okay, screw hating confrontation, she was trying to _what_?! "You aren't our parent! You left! You don't get to come back and parenting us after being gone for so long! You aren't our mom, we don't even like you!" He ran off after that too angry to be around her, to be around anyone, he would only do something he regretted. 

Della sighed to herself, way to screw up two out of three, why didn't she know how to talk to her own kids? Why wasn't this something she could figure out? What was she doing wrong? 

"Where'd Huey go?" A voice came from the edge of the den and she turned around to see Dewey standing there. Wonderful. "He ran off, didn't he?" He accusingly asked her. Just wonderful. 

Dewey was the kid that cared about her the least, that was more annoyed that she was back than anything, she picked that up quickly. It was upsetting but she thought it would ultimately make them bond more easily, she didn't take into account that she would piss off his brothers. Looked like that dream was over before it really began, something else she quickly picked up was that they were very protective of each other. Against everybody, even their own family. And she had only seen that face when someone had messed with her and Donald had gotten mad, it meant they were dead to him. She didn't want to be dead to one of her sons, but it seemed like she didn't have a choice. 

"Yes." She said, effectively sealing her fate. 

"Why can't you just leave us alone?!" He exploded at her. "First you have to piss Louie off, and now him, haven't we been through enough?! Just go away!" A noise suddenly came from behind him and he remembered that he hadn't been alone. He whirled around to comfort his brother and apologize for yelling but he just shook his head and pushed passed him, probably to go find Huey. Ugh, that was it, he had had enough of Della. "Just go away." He softly pleaded and went after his brother. He left before tears could fall from her face, once again. 

* * *

His brothers were outside, Louie was attempting to talk to Huey and Huey, he didn't look too good. It was clear that he was trying to keep a hold on it -it being his magic- not wanting to hurt their brother but was losing control fast. Dewey had to do something. He quickly made his way over to them and gently pulled Louie back, he placed him behind him then turned to his other brother. "Huey," He said carefully. "You need to calm down. I know you don't want to hurt us, so you need to get a grip." 

"I'm trying! It's not exactly easy!" He snapped. 

Dewey slowly put a hand on him, "I know, but you _have_ to. She makes you mad, furious even, I get that, calm down and we can talk about it." He and Louie shared a look and nodded. Louie also put a hand on him and they sent calming waves through their bond. It wasn't the first time they had done it, and with a brother with a temperament like their's it was the usually only thing that worked. This was one of those times. 

As soon as Huey calmed down he hugged them, they hugged him back. He was so incredibly thankful for them, he didn't know what he'd do without them, especially with his anger. They were always the only ones who could pull him out of it, if he didn't have them it would be a bigger problem than it already was for sure. "Thanks, guys." He softly told them. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Did he? No, but he knew he would have to eventually. 

"She just tried to parent me and it pissed me off. I knew I had to get out of there before I did something dumb." 

"And you didn't, so that's something." Louie tried to comfort him. "Sorry for coming out here and making it worse." 

Huey looked at him, "You didn't, you were trying to help and I really appreciate it. I guess I just need both of you when I get like that, and the fact that I had been alone with her didn't help." His brothers looked at him confused. "We're all pretty agitated, right?" They nodded. "It seems like -for me at least- that it gets worse the longer we're away from each other." 

"That would explain why I was acting the way I was earlier," Louie noted. "I'm usually not that quick to jump to anger, but it was like I couldn't help it." 

"Same." Dewey said. 

"Then until this dies down we should stay near each other as much as possible. Maybe then we can attempt to talk to her but until then she should really be the last person we're around. Continuously getting angry at her will just make this whole thing worse. We need clear heads when we do confront her and we just don't have that right now." His brothers agreed and it went silent. But he didn't want it to be silent, silence meant he had to think about what just happened with his magic and he really didn't want to do that. This was the first time he almost lost control of it like that, the first time his emotions were so stronger he couldn't contain them. He didn't like it, and even worse he didn't know how to fix it. 

Louie looked toward the mansion, "I'm gonna go eat."

Dewey's stomach rumbled, "Lunch! I forgot to have lunch!" He cried dramatically hysteric. 

"You two would be lost without me!" Huey called as he chased after them. Well, that moved it out of his mind for the moment but how long would that moment last?

"She was sending transmissions? I mean I knew that if she was alive she would try to get back but why weren't we getting them? Or you at least, something's not adding up." Donald told his Uncle as he paced around his room, they needed privacy and that was as private as it got. Mrs. Beakley was barely aloud in there. 

He sighed and sat on his Uncle's bed after he patted the spot next to him, pacing never did him any good, but it felt like it did. "Are ye suggestin' she's lyin'?" Donald gave him an incredulous look, of all the things to suggest... Of course Della wasn't lying, what reason would she have to? Besides, she seemed so distressed by the realization that they weren't getting them, she had to be telling the truth. "Well the only thin' ae can think oaf is interference, but who would have any reason ta do that?" He shrugged, he didn't know who could gain what by that. This just didn't make any sense. At least it was a nice distract from, 

"How are ye doin' with her bein' back, lad?" Nevermind. 

How was he doing? He was still happy, unbelievably overjoyed- this was what he had wanted for the past ten years, for his sister to be back and their family to be whole once again. But... now that she _was_ back, now that he knew for sure she was alive, he was mad. Furious even. How could he not be? She was reckless, and stupid, and just so... _selfish_. He knew she didn't mean to get stuck on the moon, that she didn't know there'd be a storm, but she still left. Even if she thought she'd be back she left her eggs, and just as they were about to hatch. And all because she wanted a joyride. She left him, they weren't supposed to do that, ever. "Not good." He told him honestly. 

"Ae know what ye mean, ae'd thought ae'd be mair happy but it was quick ta fade and now all that's left is, everythin' else. Ae'll be able ta get past it eventually, ae know ae will, ae mair concerned aboot yew, nephew. Yew and the boys." 

Donald nodded, "I know, I'm so worried about them- their magic is agitated, a lot more than it was after that fight the four of you had. I'm scared they'll lash out and hurt someone or themselves. And as for me... I just don't know, Uncle Scrooge, I want to forgive her and go back to how things were before, but it's just not that easy. She left me, I don't know if I can ever forgive her for that." He groaned and laid back in the bed, why must his life be this complicated? 

"And rightfully so." Donald looked at his Uncle. "Ye just dinnae do that ta the people ye care aboot, not withoot a good reason. _Especially_ when they're yer twin. She hurt ye, lad, ye dinnae have ta forgive her if ye dinnae want ta. Isnae that what yew've been tellin' the lads? Take yer own advice fer ance." He said with a wry smile. Donald knew his Uncle was right but actually being in that situation... he _did_ want to forgive her was the thing, he just didn't know how. He didn't know if he could, and that scared him more than he cared to admit. 

He was alone again, he didn't mean to be- especially right after he and his brothers agreed they shouldn't be, but Louie was. They had gone off somewhere and he hadn't had the energy to follow, it was hard for him to have energy for anything these days. His mind was too preoccupied- when he wasn't thinking of his possession he was thinking of Della, and he didn't know what to do about either situation. There was no easy resolve and he _really_ hated doing hard work. But what was the alternative? Overthinking until he got a panic attack? No thanks, he would rather do literally anything else. Including hard work, he just hated that it had to be so hard. Like, what was the point? Why couldn't these things just be easy? Why couldn't his life just be easy?...

Lena nodded at him as she passed and he nodded back, but then she stopped and turned around which confused him, he hadn't done anything to her recently, had he? "Hey, umm, Louie?" She said hesitantly. 

"That's me." 

"Oh good, I thought you were one of your brothers." She sarcastically retorted. "Look, umm, _geez I'm not good at this stuff._ About Magica, you’d probably rather talk to your brothers but if you need someone who understands I’m here.” Oh right, she had been traumatized by her as well. With everything else going on he had sadly forgotten about that, luckily she still had Webby. Which reminded him, as soon as he was calmer he had to hang out with her. They hadn't in a while and he missed it. 

"Thanks, Lena, you too." He gave her a small smile and something he had recently come to notice was that he smiled a lot around everyone but it was never a full one unless he was around his brothers. He wondered what that said about him, about the three of them. Whatever, he had bigger things to worry about right now. Besides, all it could really mean was that they were close to each other and what was wrong with that? That was the only reason he was doing as well as he was right now. Without them he was sure he would be drowning right now, and he knew it was the same for them. 

"She's the worst, isn't she?" Right, he was in the middle of a conversation. Not the time to zone out. 

He nodded, "She really is. ...I'm scared of her, I think that's the first time I've ever admitted that out loud. But I am, terrified even, and I had it nowhere near as bad as you." 

"Don't compare trauma's, tea time taught me that. She fucked with us both and we're both struggling cause of it, as well as other things." She plopped down on the stairs with a sigh and he sat next to her. "I don't how to deal with this." She quietly admitted. 

"Me either." He said just as quiet. It was a sobering moment for both of them. "I know my Dad and brothers want me to talk to them, I know that they don't mind waiting until I'm ready but what would I even say? How do you talk about something like this?" He sure as hell didn't know, but maybe that was okay, maybe now he had someone to not know with. And maybe that was what they needed right now. 

Maybe they would even eventually be okay again. What was he on about? They had their family and now they had each other, of course they would be okay again. They would be better than okay, they would be whole, just whatever their new version of whole was. One thing was sure, it would be greater than before. 


	12. What They're Fighting For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More people find out about Della and an argument occurs.

There was something he was forgetting to do, Donald knew that, he just didn't know what. Man, that was the worst. Maybe if he thought about something else for a while it would come to him. It wasn't like he was short on things to think about. No, he had many _many_ things to think about, he just didn't want to mull over most of them. He had been stressed enough as it was, why did all this stuff have to happen? He wasn't blaming Louie for getting possessed by any means, he would _never_ do that, and he hated that he had to go through it, that he was still going through it, but he did blame Della for her part in the stress. He probably wouldn't have even been this stressed if she never left, everything would've been so much easier to handle if she had been there with him. Instead he had been left to deal with everything on his own for ten years cause of her selfishness- Wait, he remembered! He had to call Gladstone and Fethry and let them know Della was back. 

They deserved to know and now that things were beginning to die down a little he remembered the other people in his life. And just cause he was furious at Della didn't mean he should keep her family away from her. It wouldn't be fair to any of them if he were to do that, and he was trying to do better by his cousins. With all of that in mind he picked up his phone and dialed their numbers. After they answered and pleasantries were exchanged he dropped the bombshell on them, 

"So there's a reason I called you guys, it's Della. She's alive and she's home." He heard Fethry let out an excited yell a few feet away from his phone and smiled. But Gladstone was eerily quiet, that wasn't like him... "Gladstone? You still there?" He asked warily. 

"Yeah. I'm still here." Fethry came back to the phone and started asking questions before he could say anything else so Donald chose to leave it alone. He was probably just taking it in, it wasn't like it had been any easier for him.

"You guys can come see her if you want, I'm sure she'd been more than happy to see you again and I know the kids and Scrooge have been missing you. I have too." He added on. 

"Duck Cousins reunion!" Fethry cheerfully exclaimed. Huh, he might be taking this the best any of them had, Donald just hoped it didn't eventually wear off like it did for him. An upset Fethtry was a Fethry no one liked to see, much less be the cause of like Della would be. "Gladstone, are you in?" And because it was Fethry Donald knew he would be, no one could say no to him- especially not Gladstone. If it got him here Donald wouldn't have anything to say against it. Normally he would, knowing how bad it could be to not be able to say no to someone, but this was a special occasion. Gladstone _had_ to there, all of them did. 

"Of course I'm in! I can be there in an hour tops." Of course he could. 

"Oh, so can I! Well, I can if Dr. Gearloose lets me off but I'm sure if I explain he'll do it." In the spirit of reaching out Scrooge had gotten him a job working under Gyro, it was by no means an easy job, but he seemed to be enjoying it. And it kept him in close contact so that was something. 

Donald quirked his eyebrows. Yeah, Gryo was _sure_ to do that. "Tell him that if he doesn't he has me to deal with, and I know he certainly doesn't want to do that." Donald was one of his only friends, which meant he respected him and enjoyed his company more than others. To be fair, Donald enjoyed his company as well -along with Fenton's- it was just that with everything going on he hadn't made it into work for a while. Thank god he worked for Scrooge, he would've been fired by now otherwise. He had to make sacrifices to ensure the kids were okay during all of this, and to make sure _he_ was okay. He would catch up with them eventually. 

The three of them hung up after exchanging a few more words and his immediate thought was to check on the kids. So that's what he did. Most of them were hanging out in the den and peacefully, which meant the boys were starting to settle down. He let out a quiet breath of relief, good, that was good. But there was something he needed to tell the four of them. Huh, he wondered where Lena was.

"Hey," He said after getting their attention. "I just wanted to let you guys know that Gladstone and Fethry are coming over, to see Della." 

They looked at each other, "Okay." 

"Oo, do you think Uncle Fethry will have deep-sea stories?" Webby asked excitedly. 

Donald chuckled, "I'm sure he will, if you ask him. You might have to wait a while though, he's really eager to see Della." She easily accepted that and he moved his attention to his boys, who had gone quiet after he mentioned Della. He sighed, wishing he could make this whole thing easier for them. "Boys? You excited to see your Uncles?" He asked to get their attention off of it, he couldn't make it easier but he could certainly help. 

It seemed to work, "Yeah! It's been _ages_." Dewey said dramatically, which made Donald chuckle. It hadn't even been two weeks since they last saw Fethry... a lot has happened in such a short time, it was no wonder all of them were so overstretched and worn out. Things were dying down, they would get back in the flow of things soon enough, it would just be a little different. Hopefully it would be for the better. "Why haven't they come over sooner? Wait," Dewey paused for a moment. "Nevermind." 

He nodded, "It's just been so hectic lately, it was best to wait a little bit." 

"Does Della know they're coming?" There was a knock on the door, it opened and was followed by an ecstatic gasp. 

"She does now." Donald smiled at the four of them then went to see what exactly was happening, knowing they would know to stay in the den for a bit. The sight he fell upon was one he was expecting but still surprised him nonetheless. Della had their cousins wrapped in a bear hug with her arms draped across their necks, they were hugging her back just as tight. He waved at the two of them when they noticed him and they smiled back, though Gladstone's looked a little tense. Looked like he was still taking it in then. At least Fethry still seemed happy. 

"You guys got here fast." He noted after the hug broke up, which made Della looked at him confused. "Yes, this was my doing." He said before she could ask. She smiled at him, and with all four of them there it almost felt like old times. Expect for the huge elephant in the room. 

Gladstone shrugged, "Turns out I was closer than I thought." That was an understatement, it's only been like ten minutes. His luck worked in mysterious ways, Donald stopped questioning it a long time ago. "Ran into Feth on the way here so we've been catching up." 

Fethry nodded, "He was telling me all about his adventures in the last few years. Oh, Della, you've must've had quite the adventure yourself!" 

"That's an understatement, have you seen my leg?" She asked with a wry grin. 

"I was trying not to say anything." 

Donald snorted, "That's a first." Gladstone glared at him and Della laughed. And there was a sound he definitely missed, had she done it since she got back? 

"Oh man, you two haven't changed." The room grew somber. "So I guess I should explain everything, huh?" She asked their cousins who nodded. So she did, and hearing the whole thing for the second time was no easier than the first. But it was something their cousins needed to hear so he would just have to deal with it. It wasn't the first time he had to deal with something hard and it wouldn't be the last. But he was also glad he was able to hear it, that she was here to tell it- and he knew for all their hard feelings the rest of his family felt the same. Cause he knew his boys, knew that on some level they were happy she was home, it would just take a lot of digging and conciling to find it. 

"Wow," Fethry said once she was done. "You were so close this whole time!"

Della looked down, "Yeah, I was..." And here was the uneasy part, Donald wondered how long it would take for them to get there. She walked over to the foyer steps and sat down on one. He followed after and put an arm around her, his brotherly instincts taking over. She gave him a weak smile, then turned it to the others as they also came over. "I'm sorry, for everything. I've made such a huge mess, and for once I don't know how to clean it up. Uncle Scrooge is mad at me, the boys won't even look at me! I don't know what to do..." 

"What're you talking about? You're _Della Duck_ , you can do anything! Right, Gladstone?" Gladstone jumped out of his thoughts and looked at all of them, he shrugged. Donald furrowed his eyebrows, okay, he was done leaving this alone. 

"Alright spill, lucky charm, what's going on with you?" 

He sighed, "I'm just feeling a lot of things right now, okay?" He turned to Della. "Things were bad after you left, I was grieving and I had no one to turn to, and I know it was the same for these two. I'm glad you're home, it's what I've been waiting for ever since you left, but I can't just act like I'm okay with everything." 

"Okay." Della replied making him look at her stunned. "I get it, I don't expect any of you to act like you're okay right now." She grabbed his hand. "But I'm here now, and I'm not leaving again. Let's work on it together, all of us." He gave her a small smile and Donald found himself smiling as well, working on it together, he liked the sound of that. 

* * *

While the cousins were having their reunion the kids were doing their best not to listen in, it's not like they were being quiet. But they knew it was a private moment not meant for their ears so they decided to listen to the TV instead. Even if most of them were only half-listening. The boys didn't mean to be so zoned out, but once Della was mentioned around them she was all they could think about. They were beginning to calm down which was good but she was still a complicated topic for them, and then of course there was the other thing they couldn't stop thinking about. All of this was too much, they needed to think about something else for a while. 

Instinctively they reached out to each other with their bond and became relieved when they could feel each other with no problem, nothing was off with it anymore. They couldn't begin to explain how great that made them feel. Magica's magic had done something to it, infected it in a way, but now it looked like that was all cleared out, thankfully. They didn't want anyone infecting it, least of all her. 

But it was strong enough to handle whatever she threw at it. They were strong enough to handle whatever she threw at them. 

They were strong enough to handle whatever anyone threw at them, which is how they knew they would be okay, eventually. But right now? They weren't doing so good and their bond was really the only thing holding them together. Well, and their Dad, but he was dealing with a lot as well, and their bond was always with them, even if they weren't with each other. Rare as that was these days. They weren't separable by any means before all of this but these events made it harder for them to be without one another. A coping mechanism, their Dad had called it. And even now that they could be around the others again they didn't see that changing. 

The point was, their bond was a steady source of comfort for them and they were glad they were the only ones who could affect it once more. And as long as none of them ever got possessed again it would stay that way. It was _their_ bond, no one else was allowed anywhere near it and it was one more reason they hated Magica. The list seemed to be growing with each day and they weren't sure if that was good or bad for their progress. But they were sure they didn't really care. 

They did want to get better, but they would always hate Magica, that was something they knew for certain. "Are you guys paying attention to this or am I the only one who's not?" Dewey asked, his voice filling the previously quiet air. 

"I am! It's really good!" Webby replied but Huey and Louie looked at each other and shook their heads. No, they hadn't been paying attention for a while now. 

Huey turned to look towards the foyer, "What'd you think they're talking about out there?" 

"Taxes." Dewey said so confidently that it made the others start laughing, he joined them after not even a second. 

The boys decided they needed to something that would distract them from everything, something that wasn't TV. Something that required their attention and forced them to think about it, something they all were interested in. It couldn't be a magic lesson, they didn't think they were ready yet and their Dad was busy. So what could it be? "Do you guys' ever wonder about what exactly Magica did to our bond?" Huey asked as the three of them roamed the halls. Cause he did, it was something he questioned a lot. But it was just in his nature to question things, especially when they involved his brothers. 

"No." Louie quickly replied, the thought of Magica closing him up. 

"What's there to think about? Her magic infected it, and now it's all better." 

"Yeah but..." He trailed off and sighed. 

Louie looked at him, "I know that face, what've you been thinking about, Hubert?"

"I know we've been overloaded with everything going on lately, but what if she had something to do with us being so agitated? What if her magic did something to, I don't know, enhance that? Like I know it was because of our feelings seeping into each other, it's not the first time that's happened, but it was never _that_ bad. We've never had to physically separate ourselves from everyone else, we've also never had to deal with something like all of this at once so I thought maybe that was the reason. But what if it wasn't the whole reason? What if there was more to the story?" His brothers looked at each other, it wasn't like there wasn't any merit to the questions. Who knew what Magica was capable of? Well, there was one person but they didn't know how keen she'd be to help- or where she was. 

And they were thinking of the things they were supposed to be distracting themselves from. Wonderful. "Ugh, can we do literally _anything_ else?" Louie asked. 

"Yeah, we don't even know where the only person who could help us is, let's go back to distracting ourselves." Huey hesitated. "Come on, dude, there's no way we can get answers right now and I'm tired of dealing with all of this, I know you guys are too. Let's do something else for a while." He got Huey's need for answers, and immediate ones, but they needed to not think about this stuff anymore. It was just too exhausting to deal with, and he wasn't even the one who got possessed! They needed to be done with it, and even if he wouldn't say it he knew his older brother felt the same. 

"Okay, let's do it." But what to do? "So I know we agreed not to think about the Magica side of our bond," And the fact that he had to associate someone like her with something as wonderful as that was excruciatingly awful. "But what about something else about it? There's still so much we don't know about it, and we keep coming up with dead end after dead end, but why? Why does nothing have information on it? Dad doesn't even know, and he's probably one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world! Can you guys think of anything else he doesn't have a clue on magic wise?" His brothers shook their heads. "Then why this?" 

Well, looked like they had a distraction. Thank god for that, if they had kept talking about Magica any longer Louie might have exploded. And now he was thinking about her again! No, okay, just get back on topic, Louie, you can do this. "Maybe cause he doesn't have it?" He replied shrugging. "He doesn't know what to look for or what questions to ask cause he doesn't know what it's like. He says he's never seen anything like it, which means it's rare and that's probably why nothing around here has any information on it either. We're not gonna find the answers here, or even in Duckberg." 

"Then where?" 

Louie didn't have an answer for that, but for once in his life wasn't terrified of what it could be. This bond wasn't something to be scared of, it was the best thing that ever happened to him. 

* * *

"So things around here are pretty awkward right now, huh?" Gladstone asked Della after she finished telling him and Fethry about everything that had transpired ever since she got back. Donald had walked off a while ago, under the excuse of needing some air. The three of them knew he just couldn't be around his sister anymore. 

"Yeah," Della nodded. "But I brought it on myself. It'll all work out, eventually." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than them. It also sounded like she wasn't doing a very good job. 

"Of course it will, this family is better together than apart! And now all of us are back together!" Della fiercely hugged him. "Oh, I miss you too, Dell-bell!" They both looked towards Gladstone with teasing grins; he sighed and joined the hug, a smile involuntary forming on his face. 

After the hug broke up Della grew somber and looked down with a defeated look. "I don't know how to talk to my own kids without pissing them off- and Donald, he's so good with them, better than I could ever be. And I don't even know how he does it! I don't think I could ever replicate the amount of love he has for them." 

Fethry nodded understandingly, "He has been letting them call him Dad."

"HE'S WHAT?!" Della could handle a lot. She could handle her Uncle being mad at her, she could handle Donald being weird around her, she could even handle her kids wanting nothing to do with her! What she couldn't handle was Donald taking her title away. She was the parent- okay, yeah, she left before they were even born and had been gone for most of their lives but she was their parent. They were the ones she was trying so hard to come back for, the ones she was fighting for day in and day out- never giving up no matter the circumstances, so that she could be their Mom, and Donald took it away from her. That wasn't okay. 

She needed to talk to him. 

He hadn't seen the boys in a couple of hours and that worried Donald immensely, especially when he found out no one else had seen them. Webby said they went off on their own a while ago and almost 2 hours had passed since then, and every second that went by the pit in his stomach grew larger. What could they be doing that they needed to be alone for so long? What if they were hurt and or in trouble? What if, they were right in front of him?

He raced forward and grabbed them in a tight hug, panickedly looking over them to make sure they were okay. They assured him that they were fine and that the time had just gotten away from them, he didn't even try to hide his sigh of relief. He held onto them for a few more minutes and they let him, going constantly from reassuring him to apologizing, it was clear they felt really bad for worrying him. And honestly, that made him smile a bit, he has such good kids. "Look, with what happened a few days ago, we just _really_ need to know where you kids are right now, okay?" 

They nodded, "Okay, Dad." He smiled at them and let go then asked them what they had been doing, he wasn't sure he liked the answer. Distracting themselves- he could see the good intentions behind it but knew better than anyone that you couldn't distract yourself forever. And that it was very dangerous to do so. They had to deal with everything, and continue to deal with it until it got better. Taking breaks was fine, healthy even, but they had to come back to it eventually. So that was what he told them. 

"I know you want things to go back to the way they were before, but that’s gonna take time. You have to let yourselves heal." He added on. 

"But this is all so exhausting!" Dewey protested. "Why can't we just be done with it?" 

Donald sighed, they weren't getting it. "I know, that's why you take small breaks. You can't be done with it because it's not done, and it isn't going to suddenly become otherwise just cause you want it to. It's just going to stay and get bigger until you _can't_ avoid it and it's nearly impossible to deal with, that's why you have to not avoid it, so that doesn't happen. I know all of this is hard and I know some things are just easier not to think about but you _have_ to think about them. It's the only way you'll feel better." 

"Why can't it just be easy? Why can't bad stuff just not happen?" Dewey asked and Donald looked at sympathetically before pulling him into another hug. 

"Because that's not how life works, bad stuff happens to everybody, but so does good stuff- you just have to stick it out to see it. Something good'll happen, Dewey, you have to have patience. And hey, I can already think of a good thing." Dewey looked at him curiously. "We get to see just how strong our family is." 

"What if we're not strong enough to deal with this?" Louie said quietly. 

"Then we lean on each other until we are." Donald lifted his other arm to let him join the hug, he did without a second thought. "Huey?" He asked as he held both of them. "Anything you want to say?" Huey shook his head- honestly, he believed what his Dad was saying, he always did. His brothers were the ones who needed reassurance right now, not him. He already knew all of this stuff, he only went along with them to make sure they were okay. And a tiny break was much appreciated, he'd have to find ways for them to do it more often. 

Footsteps suddenly approached them and they all looked to see it was Della. She looked relieved when she saw the boys but then turned to her brother. "Can I talk to you? _Alone_?" 

"Right now?" She nodded determinedly so he wordlessly asked the boys if they were okay enough for him to go, they confirmed they were so he got up and the two of them went to a more private area. "What's up?" He asked once they got there, not at all expecting the answer. 

"What's up is that you let the boys call you Dad?" Donald sighed, he had been dreading this conversation. "You're not, look, I really do appreciate you raising them and I'm glad you were there for them when I couldn't be, but you're not their parent, I am. How could you take that away from me?" 

Donald looked at her incredulously, "You're kidding, right? This is gotta be a joke, right? _You_ left them, you're the reason they grew up without a mom, you're the reason they've been hurting all their lives- wondering why their mom didn't love them enough to stay. You are a lot of things, Della Duck, but you are not a parent. I didn't take anything away from you, you took it from yourself." 

"Well, maybe they wouldn't be so cold towards me if they didn't see you as their Dad!" She shot back. "I've been trying to get back _for ten years_ to be their Mom! I've been fighting for so long to get back to all of you, to them! And because of you I don't have that place anymore, because you took it!" 

"What? Would you've rather I abandoned them?!" 

"Of course not!" 

"Then what was the alternative?! Look, I'll concede on a lot of things but not this, not them. I'm their Dad, end of discussion. You lost that right the second you stepped foot on that ship, and you have to accept that. This was _your_ mistake, Della, you have to live with the consequences." And as far as he was concerned that was the end of the conversation, his sister -however- seemed to have other plans. "So what exactly was the game plan here?" He asked before she could say anything. "You just yell at me a bunch until you feel better about yourself? That's not fair to me and you know it, this isn't my fault, _and you know it_. It's not too late for you to have a place in their lives, it just won't be the one you hoped for." 

She deflated, "My whole life for the past ten years, my whole purpose, was to get back and be their Mom. How am I supposed to just not? How am I supposed to just give up?" 

Donald shook his head, "It's not giving up, it's fighting for something else." 

"What?" 

"A place in their life that means something to them." 


	13. Reaching Out is Easier Said Than Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donald lets Della try her hand at parenting and the boys have some issues.

If there was something Dewey hated it was having to be patient. He didn't want to wait for a good thing, he just wanted it to happen already! He had been through enough, his brothers had been through enough, it was time for something good to happen. But he couldn't make it, there wasn't a spell for that... wait, was there? Ugh, that required looking through his spellbook and it was all the way on the other side of the room. He was quite comfortable where he was right now, he didn't want to move. Besides, he'd risk waking Louie and he'd be pissed at himself if he did that, this was the first time he was resting in a few days and it was only cause his brothers were next to him. They had been sharing Louie's bed for a while now -and that wasn't changing anytime soon- but ever since Della came back they had been having fitful sleeps at best. Luckily it looked like that was going away, except now Dewey couldn't sleep. 

There was just too much on his mind. 

But he knew he needed to, lest he wake his brothers up, so he closed his eyes and got comfortable once again. He would make something good happen, it was the least his brothers deserved. 

The next time he opened his eyes it was to his older brother shaking him awake. He unsuccessfully fought back a groan but got up, knowing he would continue to pester him until he did so. "Morning." He said quietly and the both of them turned to their youngest brother to see what he was doing, still sleeping. He'd probably stay that way for the rest of the day if they didn't wake him and they had stuff to do. Huey gently woke up as Dewey went to get changed, he awoke with a glare- clearly wishing he was still asleep.

Huey gave him an apologetic look, "Sorry, but we have to ask Lena about Magica and our bond today, remember? Can't sleep all day." 

"We're doing that today?" He mumbled as he started waking up. 

"If we can find her." Dewey snorted. "Seriously, it's like she just disappeared yesterday, I mean, so did we, but at least _we_ knew where we were." Yesterday had been so hectic, probably one of the reasons they had a good night's sleep. Which was good, they needed to be well-rested to deal with everything going on. But they were all hoping today would be less hectic, but with their Uncles still in the mansion they didn't see that happening. Maybe they just had to get used to hectic, things had been hectic before, but it had been a different kind. A better kind. They didn't like this kind. 

"Well, maybe I can try being some sort of figure in their life? The most they've seen of me has been at mealtimes, maybe if they were around me more they'd get used to me?" Della suggested as she paced in her brother's room. She had been thinking a lot about what he said yesterday, and if she couldn't be their mom she could fight for something else, just like he said.

"So, you want to try to be a parental figure, like Scrooge?" She nodded. "It took them a while to really trust him, it wasn't until after the whole shadow war thing that they really started to. I just don't think they're ready for that with you yet." But she was right about them not seeing her a lot, they had been avoiding her, but now that they were calmer they had to face her. He knew they didn't want to, and he didn't like making them do things they didn't want to, but it was for the best that they did. 

"I know, and I don't want to force anything on them, but I've been back for almost two weeks and I've barely had one conversation with them. I want to be apart of their lives, I want them to want me to be apart of their lives. I want to try, Donald, I want that more than anything."

And Donald had to really think about that one, spending more time with them was one thing, but trying to parent was another. Was it too soon for something like that? It would be if she was Scrooge, but she wasn't. She was Della, maybe this would be the right move for her. But how would the boys take it? Would they get where she was coming from, or think that it was too soon, that she was overstepping? Maybe... maybe this was just something he had to let the four of them work out themselves. Maybe it was time for him to step back a bit. 

"You need to talk to them before you decide anything, but I think it's time for you guys to figure this out for yourselves. I'm still their Dad, and I always will be, but I can't fix this for you guys." Besides, a bit of a break could be nice, he was stressed and he had to do something to deal with it. This was a hard decision for him to make, they really did need him right now, but it wasn't like he was stepping back completely. He would never do that. And he would be there whenever they needed him; he had to take care of himself, he was struggling too and he couldn't forget that. He _wouldn't_ forget that. This would be good for her, for them- he was sure of it. 

"And I'm not asking you to. Okay, talking to them, I can do that. I just need to find them." Donald snorted and Della glared at him, "Oh, and you know where they are?"

He nodded, "Talking to Lena about something." He knew what but he couldn't tell her, she didn't seem to think they had any sort of magic like he did and he wasn't gonna be the one to say otherwise. 

"Then I'll talk to them after they're done with that." She nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like a plan." It sounded like a plan alright, he just hoped it was a good one. 

Finding Lena was harder than it seemed, even if she had a room she was hardly ever in it. And she wasn't in Webby's room either, which meant they were out of options before they even started looking. Until she told them where she might be. "She's been spending a lot of time there." She offered as an explanation. The triplets looked at each other, shrugged, and made their way there- but not before thanking their sister for her help. 

They didn't know why Lena had been spending time in Scrooge's room, but they weren't gonna question it. 

When they got there they asked if they could talk to her and thankfully she agreed. She got comfortable on Scrooge's bed then turned to them curiously, "What's up?" And oh, how to ask something like this? They didn't know how comfortable she was talking about Magica, and they didn't want to be the reason why she had a setback. But they needed answers and no one else had them. 

"It's about Magica." 

She sat up a little bit, "Okay, what about her?" 

"I'm sure you've noticed we've been a bit... on edge these past few days." She nodded. "We were wondering if her _infecting_ our bond could have anything to do with it. Like made it worse or something, is that something she's capable of?" 

Lena thought for a few moments, "It definitely is. She probably saw it as a hindrance, something for Louie to latch onto, and wanted to -I dunno- get rid of it? You guys are probably the only ones who know if that's possible or not. But even if she couldn't, if she had access to it she could definitely mess with it. ...Her magic is bad magic, it does nothing but corrupt everything it comes into contact with- like user, like magic I guess, if it was still in your bond it was more than likely making things worse." All of that made sense, but there was only one thing the triplets were latching onto. 

"She tried to what." Dewey replied, his monotone hiding something darker. 

"Well, it didn't work obviously! But if I know Magica, and unfortunately I do, that's something she would try to do. Anything to make her target weaker." Oh god, Louie thought, this was all his fault- if he didn't grab that orb... He felt a hand in his and looked to see it was Huey, who was looking at him reassuringly. Right, this wasn't his fault, it was her's. But if she thought she could make him weak, make him compliant, then the joke was on her. He would never let anyone hurt his family, no matter what they did to him. 

* * *

"I didn't think it was possible to hate someone as much as I hate her." Dewey admitted after he and his brothers left Scrooge's bedroom. Normally he wouldn't do that so easily, but he knew if anyone would understand it'd be them. 

Huey, however, tried to look on the bright side of things. "At least we know it isn't possible for someone to do that." And the thing was, none of them really knew how they knew that, they just, did. It was something they were so sure of and they didn't know why. At least it made them feel better. No one could do any real damage to it, even if they wanted to, and that was a huge relief. 

Dewey chuckled, "Yeah, she messed with the _wrong_ triplets." His brothers smiled at him. "I still hate her though." They let out noises of agreement but didn't say anything so he figured there was nothing else _to_ say. What else would there be? They all hated her and that was that, they didn't need to go into any explanations, not with each other. They were always like that when it mattered. And she definitely didn't matter, but her impact did. It was something they would get over together, all of this was. 

There were a lot of people he hadn't seen for a while, Donald realized while catching up with Fethry, 4 to be exact. He sure did miss of all them but these past 10 years had kept him so busy... But with his decision to step back a bit he wouldn't be so busy anymore, maybe it was time. Would they even _want_ to see him though? Or would they be too mad at him? He did make the choice to not talk to them at all to focus on the boys, it had been a hard one but he still thought it had been right. But would they see it that way? 

This was stupid, he knew his friends, he knew they would understand and would be more than happy to hear from him. So what was stopping him? Why was he so hesitant to talk to them again? He knew why, he was scared, but of what? These were his friends, he didn't have to be scared of talking to them, was he scared of having a life outside the kids? Maybe, but it wasn't healthy for him to only focused on them and he knew that. However knowing something and doing something about it were two completely different things, he wasn't sure he was ready to take that step just yet. Or if they would be okay with him doing it, and even if his life couldn't revolve around them they always came first. He would have to talk to them before he decided anything, just like he told Della to. Oh, wonder how that was going. 

The boys were hoping to spend the rest of the day much less emotionally but when they ran into Della they knew that wouldn't be possible. Especially after she asked to talk. However, they did say that when they were calmer they would and they didn't want to keep avoiding things- they wanted them to get better, not worse. And if their Dad was to be believed -and he usually was- avoiding everything would make it worse. But they _really_ didn't want to talk to her...

"We have a lot to discuss, there's so much you need to know, so much I need to know. I want us to have some sort of relationship, and I hope someday you'll want that as well." But the boys didn't know what they wanted in terms of her, did they want that, or did they still want nothing to do with her? They hadn't thought about it long enough to make a decision, maybe this conversation would help that? Hopefully, otherwise they would be confused forever. 

"What do you want us to know?" Louie spoke up. 

"A lot! But before anything else you need to I know I was trying to get back to you. I wanted the three of you so much, I just made a stupid mistake and I spent _every day_ the past ten years trying to come back home." The room fell silent as the boys looked at each other, huh, they weren't expecting _that_. 

Well, now they were even more confused. "You were trying to come back? I mean, we knew you weren't dead, that if anyone could survive out in space it was someone in our family, but we didn't know you were trying to come back. We probably should've looking back at it, I guess we were too focused on our feelings to think about stuff like that." Huey said, stopping once he realized he was rambling. 

"Why should we be focused on that, even if you were trying you still left. We were just eggs, and you left us for an adventure, why does you trying to come back change that?!" Louie exploded at her, quickly finding his anger hadn't been from Magica's influence alone. He had been angry before she got back and that didn't just suddenly go away cause it was gone. In fact, now that he was thinking clear it seemed to be somehow worse. 

"Louie's right." Dewey started. "It doesn't change anything. No matter what you say you still left, and nothing can change that." 

Della sighed, "I know, I'm not trying to change it, but I couldn't have you thinking I didn't want you, you deserve better than that. Please, if you don't listen to anything else listen to that. I've made a lot of mistakes and I'm not asking for your forgiveness or for you to understand, I'm asking for a chance to be apart of your lives." Was that too much for her to ask for? The triplets didn't know. It wasn't like she was going anywhere, they might as well let her in, it would be easier than fighting. They were tired of fighting everything, now was the time to deal with it. 

"We're still mad at you and we'll probably never forgive you but we're willing to give you a chance. And we're sorry for being so snappy the past few days." Huey added on, because they had let anger cloud their judgment and that was never a good thing. He knew his brothers agreed. 

"Great, now I can have a relationship with you, just like Uncle Scrooge!" The triplets looked at each other. 

"That took time, like a lot of time, and we still have our issues with you, do you even know why we're so torn up about this? Cause it's not for the same reasons, and you haven't even taken the time to ask." 

"That's fair. And there's no need for any of you to apologize, I should've left you alone until you were ready to talk to me. So I'm sorry, and I'm sorry I haven't asked about that stuff, but I'm asking now and I'm willing to accept the answers, no matter what they are. I want you to be able to talk to me about this stuff." 

The boys glanced at each other, wondering who would go first, who wanted to go first. Louie shrugged, he had already said his problem, and Dewey was still mostly indifferent. Looked like Huey was the one then. "You left Dad, he's your twin and you left him. I just don't understand how you could do that, even if you were planning to come back, how could you be comfortable with the thought of leaving him, leaving your family? How could that thought even cross your mind? How could you be that selfish?" He quickly wiped his eyes, now was not the time to cry. Dewey patted his arm comfortingly and Louie pressed his arm into his other one, that helped. Having their presence near him always helped. But he knew there was stuff they were still holding back so he nudged Dewey and gestured his head at him. 

Dewey sighed, "Finnne. Look, I really am indifferent to all of this, we were fine without you. You left because you weren't ready, and that's fine and not on any of us, I don't care if you're ready now- you're ten years too late. Oh and by the way, most of those ten years were spent with us apart, Dad took us and left after you went on your joyride, so that's something else for you to dwell on. And you didn't just split us up once, you did it twice. Not really in a caring about you mood." A little harsh, but it had to be said. And yeah, it may of seemed like he was mad, but he had sorted out his feelings. He wasn't mad, just frustrated. 

This whole thing was frustrating, and there was really only one person he could take it out on. 

Della swallowed, that certainly was a lot. "Louie? Anything you want to add?" 

He shook his head, "I've said my business, I'm just mad that you left. Among other things. There's nothing you can that would make me not mad, just like there's nothing you can say to change Huey and Dewey's feelings." 

"Okay, none of that was what I was expecting, but it makes sense. There's nothing I can say except that you three are right, about all of it. I left without thinking, I was selfish, I was the reason my brother and Uncle didn't talk for ten years." And boy was that news to her, now wasn't the time to think about that. "I made a stupid, reckless mistake and I wasn't the only one affected by it- I'm just starting to realize what that actually means. Sorry's not a big enough word, and I keep messing up, I just want to be a part of your lives. I've wanted that for ten years... Yes, Dewey, I wasn't ready then -not completely- and that was a big factor into why I left, but I _always_ wanted to be there for you three. Words cannot express how distraught I am that I wasn't." She knew that wouldn't change anything but she had to get it out there. There was a lot she had to admit to herself, this conversation barely scratched the surface. But it was a start. 

If only the boys would see it like that. Or any of the crowd they managed to attract, which was just about everyone in the mansion. Wonderful. The boys seemed to notice the crowd as well, if the way they suddenly tensed up was any indication. Huey stormed off and Dewey immediately wrapped his arms around his little brother not letting anyone else near him, more than convinced they would make it worse. This was a tense situation, Huey had the right idea leaving. It was too private of conversation to continue knowing everyone else was there. But he didn't think any of them had anything else to say. Not right now at least. 

* * *

Huey slammed his door closed with a huff, how long had the others been there? Did he even want to know the answer? No, that was supposed to be a private conversation, they weren't supposed to hear any of it. Where was his Dad, why didn't he chase them off? Come to think of it, had he seen him at all today? He didn't think so, but that really wasn't like him. It was weird, he didn't like it. He didn't like any of this. 

The door opened again to reveal his brothers and his attention was immediately on them, his feelings could wait a few minutes. "How are you guys doing?"

They sat on Louie's bed, Dewey having an arm wrapped around their little brother who answered, "Been better. But that's pretty much been the thing the past few days." Yeah, that had pretty much been their default since Louie got possessed. "I'm tired, guys." He then admitted. Huey and Dewey shared a look and Huey joined them on the bed, sitting on Louie's other side. 

"Yeah, we know." 

Donald's first instinct when he heard what had happened was to berate the others for staying and listening to an obviously private conversation, -honestly, sometimes it felt like he was the only one with any decency around here- to which they guilty listened to, seeming to realize how badly they messed up. After he was done his attention was split between his sister and going to check on his boys, the way Della walked off decided it for him, she didn't want to talk right now- he would check on her later. Even if he was still mad at her she was his sister, and he knew how badly they had hurt her. His heart really did ache for her, this wasn't something she brought on herself. 

His heart also ached for his boys, who had had their trust violated by the people they cared about, once again. He should've been there to chase the others away, but he had had no idea this would happen. The others should've walked away- this was their mess and he wasn't cleaning it up. But he was checking on his boys. 

He softly knocked on their door, "Boys? Can I come in?" They said he could and he did to find them cuddling on Louie's bed. He smiled at them sadly. "You wanna talk about it?" 

"What's there to talk about? We were trying to have a conversation that could've been going somewhere _okay_ at least and everyone else was listening in. They should've just left, or let us know they were there." 

"You're right, and I already got onto them for it. The next time you see them I'm sure they'll be apologizing, but there's no pressure for you to forgive them. ...How was the talk going before that?" He cautiously asked, they had already been upset, he didn't want to make it worse but he needed to know. And to find out if they knew about the decision he had made. He wanted to be the one to tell them, _needed_ to be, so he hoped they didn't. 

Huey shrugged, "We said our issues with her and she listened, and understood. She said we were right about everything and sounded extremely regretful, I know she feels bad about it all but I don't think I can forgive her. I'm still willing to give her a chance though. She just needs to slow down a little bit, as soon as we said we'd give her a chance she immediately jumped to the four of us having a relationship like we do with Scrooge. But I think she got the message." 

Louie nodded, "Yeah, she sounds like she knows how much she messed up and is willing to put in the work to fix it, which is good. I'm still mad though. I think I'll always be mad at her. I'm also really tired, but that's not new, just slowly getting worse." Donald made a note of that and they all looked towards Dewey. 

"Do you hate her?" Was all he said. 

Donald looked at him surprised, "No, of course not! Why do you ask?" 

"The thought that one day you could hate the people you love the most... is terrifying." Was he gonna hate his brothers one day? Would they hate him? He wouldn't know what to do with himself if either of those things happened. 

"No, the three of you need to listen to me." He made sure they were looking at him before he continued. "I do not hate Della, I could never hate her, right now I'm just mad at her- and since I thought she was dead for ten years it's a lot of anger. But it's not hate. I'm mad at her because I care about her and our family, not because I hate her, okay?" They nodded. "And you three... if there's one thing I know it's that you could never hate each other, you just don't have it in you. Which is good, hopefully it'll keep you from making our mistakes. But even if you do you'll get through it, there's _nothing_ you can't get through together." 

Dewey nodded to himself, "Okay, you don't hate her you're just mad. But I'm not, I mean I'm mad she's upsetting Huey and Louie but that's about it. I don't really care one way or the other, I made my mind up a long time ago and I'm sticking to it. Though if we are giving her a chance I'm fine with it." 

"I think we should." Huey responded. Yeah, he was upset with her but if she was gonna be sticking around they should at least try. Louie agreed. 

Donald smiled, proud of them then inwardly sighed, here came the hard part. It looked like they didn't know about his decision after all, which was good but it meant he had to have a conversation he wasn't looking forward to. "So there's a reason she reached out to you today. She wants to be a sort of parental figure to you, like Uncle Scrooge is and I've decided to let her, but it's ultimately up to you three if that's how you wanna see her. It's gonna take some time for her to get to that position - if she ever does- and this is between you four." He sighed. "That's why I've decided to step back a bit." He put up a hand to stop their protests. "I'm still gonna be your Dad, okay? _Nothing_ changes that and I'm always gonna be here for you three. But I can't be overly involved in this anymore, the only ones who can be are you four and you have to figure this out for yourselves. I can't fix it for you." 

"We don't want you to, but you're our Dad. We need you." Huey said distraughtly and his brothers agreed. Oh, this was harder than he'd thought it'd be. 

"I know, I'm not going anywhere and if you need me for _anything_ I'm there, no matter what it is. If you need to talk about me about her and this whole thing you still can, but it's gonna be up to you or her to fix it. That's the only thing that changes, okay? But I have to step back a bit, right now I have a lot going through my head, and while none of it is your faults I have to take care of myself too." He sighed and pulled them in for a hug, moving the four of them to the bed then continued. "It's gonna be okay; I'm here, I'm _always_ here. Are you okay with this?" 

Louie snuggled into him, "Yeah, you're important too. We can handle things with Della, and we'll come to you if we can't. Take care of yourself, Dad." His brothers let out similar statements, though they seemed a little forced, which was understandable. They definitely wanted him to take care of himself, they were the biggest supporters of it- always had been, but they were dealing with a lot right now and didn't want to feel like they were losing him. He knew that, that was why this had been such a hard decision to make. But it wasn't like he was going anywhere, there wasn't anything in the world that could make him leave his kids. 

"You're not losing me, okay? I'm not going _anywhere_." These were his kids, his _babies_ \- he would fight Zeus himself for them if he had to. 


	14. Moving on doesn't mean forgiving, it just means letting yourself be okay again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The oldest triplets deal with a few things and Donald contacts his old pals.

Now that things were slowly calming down Huey had some time to think about things he'd rather not. Like the fact that he almost lost control of his magic a few days ago. His emotions had never got the better of him like that before- no matter how angry he got. But this time was different, and it wasn't just cause of Magica. It scared him. What if it happened again and his brothers weren't around to calm him down? What would happen then? 

He had to get a handle on things, he had to control himself. He had to suppress his emotions. That was the only fix, they were what caused him to almost lose control- it wouldn't have happened if he didn't feel things so strongly. And the only alternative was not feeling anything at all, right? So he had no other choice, if he wanted to avoid hurting the people he cared about he had to suppress them. What a time to come to that conclusion. With everything going on it wouldn't be easy... but he had to do it. He wouldn't let any of them get hurt- especially not cause of himself. 

Louie watched his brother carefully, he could practically see the wheels in his head turning- something was going on with him and he had to get to the bottom of it. He got out of his current spot with a sigh and went to get his attention. "Huey?" He immediately looked at him. 

"Louie, is everything okay?" 

"I'm fine, are you?" He wasn't, obviously, but what really mattered was if he would say something or not. It wasn't like Huey to keep things from him and Dewey, and it was always worrying when he did. Well, it really wasn't like any of them to keep anything from each other but Huey was always the least likely to try it. 

"Just thinking." Louie gestured for him to go on. "About the other day, when I almost lost control of my magic." Ah, so that's what this was about, somehow that didn't surprise him in the slightest. He knew it really upset his brother that he did that, that he let it get that far, but he was being too hard on himself. Just like always. It wasn't his fault everything was so chaotic right now, Louie just wished he could make him see that. "I can't believe that happened, that I let it happen. The thought of someone getting hurt because I was reckless..." Huey shook his head. "I've come up with a solution to prevent from happening again." 

Louie raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" 

"Yeah, I've decided to suppress my emotions from now on." Yeah, no, that wasn't happening. For someone so smart he sure was an idiot sometimes, thankfully he had Louie. 

"You realize how dumb that is, right? You of all people should know what happens when you do that- it builds up until you explode and who knows what could happen with your magic? Which is the thing you're trying to avoid. I know you're upset but suppressing things isn't gonna solve anything, and I know that you know that. So what's really going on?" 

Huey sighed, why did his brothers have to know him so well? "I feel things too strongly, it's better if I don't feel anything at all." 

"Hubert, I'm going to stop you right there, that is not true at all. I feel things strongly too but you don't see me trying to suppress them, because I know it doesn't help. And you know who taught me that?" He pointed a finger at him. "You. There's nothing wrong with having feelings, and there's nothing wrong with having a lot or feeling them a certain way, you taught me that. But it looks like right now you're the one who needs reminding: there's nothing wrong with you, Huey." 

"Then how am I supposed to deal with this? It can't happen again, I won't let it!" Louie placed a comforting hand on his arm and he deflated. "I can't have someone getting hurt because of me, Louie." 

"I know." Oh, he really did, didn't he? "It wasn't your fault. Things are crazy right now, you were just reacting to it- we may be really good with our magic but we're still just kids. You don't have to suppress your emotions, you just have to get better control over them. You control them, they don't control you." Right, that was what their Dad was always telling them, how could he forget that? Why were important things so easy to forget right now? 

"I don't know how to do that." He had anger problems, he knew that better than anyone, he had been trying for ten years to control it and nothing was really working. Not without outside assistance. How was he supposed to get a handle on his other emotions? 

"Well, if you really don't want to hurt anyone then you have to find out." He nudged him playfully, "And let us help you, yeah? That's what brothers are for." Huey felt a smile creep up on his face against his wishes and hugged him. Yeah, he could definitely do that. And he could learn to control his emotions better, and in turn control his magic better. The only thing that could control him was himself- and his brothers, but that went without saying. He could do this, he would do this, there was no other option. 

And that was when Dewey burst into the room, "I need a break from the others, they're too overwhelming." His brothers got what he meant, ever since the little spying incident they had been trying hard to earn their forgiveness. The triplets got that they were sorry, they didn't have to remind them every second of the day. 

"Speaking of them." Dewey groaned and Huey gave him an apologetic look. "Are we going to forgive them?" 

Louie shrugged, "I'm good with whatever you guys decide, I don't have the energy to deal with it." He plopped on the ground and his brothers joined him with an understanding look. 

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Dewey choose to lay down, the other two joined him on either side and he smiled. A lot of things had changed, but at least this hadn't. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if it had. "I don't know if I wanna forgive them, they spied on us and that wasn't cool, but I know they didn't mean anything by it, they just made a mistake. It still hurt though." And when the three of them were like this it was so easy for him to admit things, he knew it was the same for them. 

"We can't stay mad forever." Huey pointed out. 

Dewey glanced at him, "We can, but I don't like being mad. Besides, we have enough going on and it's clear they're really sorry, like _really_ sorry, maybe we should forgive them- or at least just move past it. We can't afford to be separated right now." Well, it looked like they were forgiving them then. Louie didn't care, he wasn't lying when he said he was good with whatever they decided. He was just too tired to give it any more thought than that. So he did what he always did when he wasn't feeling 100 percent, followed his brothers' lead. It hadn't steered him wrong so far. 

Her room was too quiet, Donald decided, and it wasn't cause she wasn't in there- he knew for a fact she was, so to say he was worried was an understatement. And he was more than willing to put his other feelings to the side to check on her. If she'd let him that was, he wasn't sure if she was ready to talk or not, only one way to find out. He knocked on the door, then knocked again when he didn't get an answer. "Della, I know you're in there." 

There was movement on the other side, followed by a curse that made him chuckle before the door cracked open a bit. "Donald, I'm not in the mood for company right now." 

"Come on, Dells, talk to me." The use of her old nickname got a smile out of her. "You know you won't feel any better until you talk to _someone_ , and I don't think you wanna see the others right now. Let me help you, just like old times." Her smile grew bigger and she opened the door fully; he walked in standing around awkwardly until she scoffed and pulled him to the bed. 

Things were quiet for a few minutes after they made themselves comfortable until she sighed and began talking, "I was getting somewhere with them, Donald! They were finally opening up to me and were being neutral towards me and we were getting somewhere! And now it feels like we're back to the beginning." 

Donald hummed, "I wouldn't say that, when I spoke to them they were still willing to give you a chance. I think you really got through to them. They're coming around to you, Della, maybe not as a mom but as someone they do want around. They're not mad at you for this, they're just as mad _as_ you actually. Have the others apologized to you yet?" 

Della looked at him seriously, "All. Day." He chuckled, 

"Yeah, they're persistent. Are you gonna forgive them?" She looked down and he thought about grabbing her hand but then thought better of it, he wasn't sure they were back there yet. But he did think they would be able to get back there eventually, so that was something. 

"I don't know, if I don't they'll just keep apologizing, and I don't think I can take any more of that." She threw herself back in her bed. "If I do... if I do there's nothing holding them back from going back to being mad at me. And I _definitely_ can't take any more of that. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here, Don." 

"Well, if that's the only thing holding you back then it sounds like you've already forgiven them. I know this is all hard on you but you have to go through the motions if you want them to really forgive you, they won't be mad forever- and neither will I." She looked at him and he shrugged, "Just give us some more time. Give me some more time, I'm not ready to talk it out without just yet." 

She raised an eyebrow confused, "Then why are you here?" 

"I was worried." She smiled, touched but then became hesitant and awkwardness filled the room once more. They still had a long way to go, didn't they? Well, progress _was_ being made and that was all both of them could hope for. 

* * *

After Donald left his sister's room he knew there was a call he had to make, now that the kids were okay with him stepping back a bit there was no reason not to make it. That didn't make him any less nervous. But it was a good kind of nervous, the kind that made him hopeful, like a good thing was about to happen- even if it didn't feel like it. Ugh, he was stalling, he had to do this and he had to do it now. And with that resolution he got out his phone and dialed a number. 

The seconds waiting for an answer were some of the most tense-filled seconds of his life. For a moment he wondered if he got a new number before a familiar voice came through, "Hello?" 

He smiled serenely, "Hey, Mick, it's been a while." 

He was confused, Dewey didn't like being confused, he came up with a decision to this long ago, why wasn't he sticking to it? He didn't care about Della, why was he thinking about her? Unless... some part of him did care about her. But why, she left them, she split their family apart, he shouldn't care about her! But she also felt _really_ bad about it and was doing whatever she could to make up for it... Why did this have to be so complicated?! 

He had a parent, he had a family! He didn't need her, they were doing just fine without her. Then again, they had been doing just fine when it was the four of them and now -recent events notwithstanding- they were doing even better. No, recent events including they were doing better, because they had all of them, because they were a family. Was she family? Family was more than blood- Webby and Mrs. Beakley and Launchpad were all his family and they weren't blood, was she a part of that? Did she even have any right to be? Ugh, he wished he could talk to his Dad about this, he would know how to make him feel better. He got that he needed to take care of himself too, he wanted him to, but he wished there was someone else who could tell him what he needed to hear. 

Duh! He had brothers, there was always someone to do that. Now all he needed to do was find out where they were, that wouldn't be too hard. 

Did he want her to be a part of it, maybe that was the better question. As well as if Huey and Louie wanted her to be or not, their opinions always mattered to him, maybe even more than his own. And he knew they were just as confused about her as he was, and that all three of them could stand to talk about it. What better time to do it than now? If they didn't he'd just keep being confused, and he really didn't want that. It was time he did something about it. 

"Donald?" Donald could hear the surprise in Mickey's voice and couldn't blame him, it had been ten years. 

"Yeah, it's me, not like anyone else has this voice." He let out an awkward chuckle. "I know you probably have a lot of questions and want to yell at me, and I can't blame you. I wouldn't even blame you if you hung up right now and wanted nothing else to do with me-" 

"That is the last thing I want." Mickey interrupted him. "Just wished you would've reached out sooner, but I get it. How are the boys?" 

"Okay as they can be I guess, a lot's going on right now. It's all so crazy, and now's might not be the best time to do this, but I just couldn't go on not talking to you guys." And then of course there was the other reason. "And there's something else... Della's back, she's alive and she's back. I don't know if she reached out or anything but I knew you had to know." 

Mickey was quiet for a few moments. Then, "Wow, that's a surprise. I didn't- how long has she been back?" 

"About two weeks now." 

"Huh- that's- okay, just hang on a second." Donald became confused but didn't say anything. What? "I'm putting you on speakerphone, say hi to everyone else." _Of course_ he would do this. 

"Hi, guys." He said weakly. 

"Donald!" They exclaimed; it was followed by an "It really is you!" From Daisy. 

He rubbed his neck, "Yeah, it's really me. I don't know how much of that you all heard but the important stuff is that I hate not talking to you guys and Della's back. I'm sorry for cutting you all out, I was just doing what I thought was right-" He was cut off again, 

"Donald, we get it, your sister just got lost in space and you had to focus on the boys, that's a lot for one person to deal with. We're just glad you're reaching out now." This time it was by Minnie. Gee, he had the best friends, didn't he? How they could possibly be so understanding he'd never know, but maybe that was just what friends did. If one of them had been in his position... Well, he's not really sure what he would've done, but he liked to think he'd be understanding too. 

"And Della's back now, so that's good." Goofy's optimistic voice came through. 

"The timing really isn't great, but I'm glad she's home." He actually meant that, no matter how angry or upset he was at her that hadn't changed. He was so immensely, inconceivably, glad she was home. "I'm sure she would've reached out to you by now if things weren't so hectic here." Although saying that, he wasn't so sure he was. Della had a tendency to avoid things she didn't want to deal with, she was getting better with it but it was still a work in progress. "I'm sure she'll reach out eventually." And that was something he _was_ sure of. 

He talked to them for a little while longer which turned into a few hours, until his phone had to be charged. They caught him up on their lives and he caught them up on his, they reminisced about their younger days, they even ended up laughing and joking like nothing at all had changed. This was definitely something that he needed. And now that he was planning on talking to them more often he knew things would be okay. He had his family and he had his friends -who may as well be family-, what else did he need? 

* * *

Dewey found his brothers outside, as well as his sister and Lena, who appeared to be making flower crowns. He waved to them as he passed by, giving Webby a thumbs up when she held her crown out for him to see. Huh, he kinda wanted one now, maybe he would make it later after talking to his brothers. Anyway. Once he approached the two of them he knew they could tell there was something on his mind right away. So he decided to speak before they had the chance to ask, 

"Do you guys think Della deserves to be a part of our family?" They looked at him confused, which, fair enough. "I don't know if I think she deserves to be or not and I wanted to know how you felt." 

"I don't know either." Huey admitted. Which meant he had been right with his earlier assessment, they needed to talk about her. "I mean, giving her a chance and thinking of her as family are two completely different things. I haven't even thought about it yet." He nodded and turned to Louie. 

Louie was the perfect picture of nonchalant but his brothers could see right through it. "Is it bad I wanna say no?" They shook their heads, after everything she had put them through it was more than understandable. "This is just too complicated for me to deal with right now. I'm still trying to deal with... and I can't even say her name! I don't _wanna_ focus on Della right now." And that was what it came down to with him, wasn't it? He didn't _want_ to think about Della right now, he didn't want to think about any of this but he had to. And he knew that he had to. 

But thinking about both at the same time? Impossible. 

"I know it's hard, but I think we have to," Huey replied. "It'll just be at the back of our minds until we do. We're mad and upset with her right now, but will we ever forgive her? Will we ever think of her as family?"

"Does she even have the right to be our family?" Dewey added on. 

Huey became thoughtful, "I think... I think she's trying really hard to earn our forgiveness, earn everyone's forgiveness, but she's also said that she understands if we never forgive her. I think she's just looking for a place in our lives and it's up to us to decide what that place is." It wasn't something they could decide in one sitting, and they all knew that. But maybe they could get a step closer, but only if they were open to it. 

"I don't want her to have one!" Louie said definitely but his brothers saw through it, again, it was really hard to put up an act around them. But they were his brothers, why did he want to do that? "Okay, maybe that's not true... I want to like her, it's just hard right now, the anger is still too fresh. I don't like being mad, but I am right now- at so many things. I'm mad at her for leaving us, I'm mad she wasn't ready for us, I'm mad she's trying to parent us when she's the furthest thing from it!... But I want to like her, I really do. She just makes it so hard, or maybe it's me. I don't know how to deal with this." And for him that was really scary, knowing what to do in any situation was his thing and the fact that it was failing him when he needed it most was upsetting. 

"It's a work in progress, Louie, all of this is. But we'll figure this out, one step at a time." Louie smiled at his oldest brother. Right, together. They could do anything together. 

Dewey spoke up then, "I think I care about her more than I care to admit. I know I said I didn't, but actually meeting her and seeing her trying so hard may of changed my mind. She's not our mom, and she never will be, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing, maybe there's some sort of happy medium?" He really didn't think not letting her in their lives was a good answer and he knew they felt the same. "She's confusing, but she doesn't always have to be that way. And the ugly feelings we're feeling right now, they don't always have to be here. We don't have to forgive her, but I think we should accept what happened and move on. Just like we were doing _before_ she got here." Huh, it was funny, he came looking to hear the perfect words and ended up saying them himself. Only his brothers could get him to do that. 

"Moving on doesn't mean forgiving, it just means letting yourself be okay again." Louie said softly and his brothers smiled at him, the significance not lost on them at all. 

After Donald got off the phone with his friends he went looking for the kids, he found Webby and Lena in the backyard and smiled as he watched them hang out. He hadn't seen Lena that relaxed in a while, it was a good look on her. Although thinking that reminded him of something, they still had to take care of Magica, she was still in Duckberg. With Della suddenly being back he and Scrooge hadn't had time to figure out how to deal with her. That couldn't continue, they had to _make_ time. 

And with that thought in mind he went to find his Uncle. When he did so he was surprised to see he wasn't alone, Della was there too, and it looked like they had been talking about something. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" 

Scrooge waved him off, "Ah, no problem at all, lad, ae think we were just aboot done." Della nodded. "Did ye need somethin'?" 

"Yes, actually, it's about Magica, we need to start looking into that again." 

"What, wait about Magica?" Della asked confused. 

He and his Uncle shared a look, "She's in Duckberg, Della. She hasn't made a move yet, but it's safe to say she will. We have to get her out of here before she can do that. Louie and Lena can't get hurt by her again." Della's face changed into one filled with determination and it was the first time Donald had seen the old her since she had gotten back. 

"I'm in." 

The three of them sat around Scrooge's office as they tried to think of ideas but none were sticking so far, there was always a flaw or an oversight. But no matter how many got shot down none of them gave up knowing that they couldn't, this was just too important. Eventually Della spoke up, though it wasn't with an idea, "Okay, I can't keep this in anymore- I know you two didn't speak for ten years and that I'm the reason why. Probably not the best time to bring it up but I felt like I was going to explode." She went silent as she waited for their responses. 

"Della, we resolved everythin' between us a while back, we're good." 

"We've both done things we aren't proud of, let our grief control our actions- especially with each other, but we talked it out and decided to do better, for us and the kids." Donald added on. 

Della tried to manage a smile but wasn't successful, "I guess that's just something else I messed up, huh?" She was happy they were okay but she still felt so guilty, the more she found out what her absence had done the more she hated herself. Or maybe not herself but her decisions, she was better off not making any at all. 

"We all had our parts to play." Donald simply responded. 

"The only thin' we can do now is learn from our mistakes and do better in the future. We cannae stay hung up on the past forever, it doesnae do anyane any good." Scrooge put a hand on her arm comfortingly and gave her a smile, she gave a small one in return. "Now, let's get back ta focusin' on Magica. What we need is a sure-fire way ta drive her oot o' town at the very least, ane she wouldnae see comin' and be able ta prevent. Ane that makes sure she cannae go near the kids again, Donald, anythin' magical that can help us?" 

"You told Uncle Scrooge!" Della directed towards her brother who shrugged, "Man, have I missed a lot!" And wow was that an understatement. But she couldn't focus on that stuff right now, they had a witch to find. She hadn't been here when Louie had gotten possessed but she was going to do everything she could to make sure that never happened again. It was the least her family deserved. 


	15. Talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids come to term with some things and the twins talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while since the last update, I just hadn't been up to writing for some reason. But I am now! Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

“Maybe.” Donald said in response to his Uncle’s question. “But I’d have to look through my library to be sure.” And who knew how long that would take? Which meant for the meantime, they were stuck. There was nothing he hated more. She couldn't continue to be a threat to the kids, he wouldn't let her. 

"That could take ages!" Della protested. "The last time I was there it was huge, and knowing you it's only gotten bigger. Isn't there a quicker way?" 

Donald shook his head, "You can't rush things like magic, Della, especially with something like this. It can only end badly. But I agree that we can't wait, the longer she's here the more of a threat she is to the kids. There _has_ to be another way. She doesn't have her magic -thankfully- so that means technology might be the answer. Uncle Scrooge, can you see if Fenton and Gyro can help us?" 

" _Yer_ their friends but alright." 

"I'm going to search my library, just in case. Actually," He looked at the time and noted how late it was getting. "This might be best done tomorrow, fresh eyes and all that. I'm heading to bed, don't stay up all night you two." They both started to protest and he walked out of the room with a chuckle, some things never changed. Including how tired he was, he would check in on the boys and then it was straight to bed. This had been a long day, and tomorrow would be as well, he would need all the sleep he could get. He peeked into the boys' room certain they were already asleep and sure enough there they were, piled on Louie's bed once again. He went over and pecked each of them on their head then made sure they were comfortable and wouldn't fall off the bed. But they seemed to be too squeezed together for that to happen. He smiled at them then quietly left their room and went to his own, where he promptly passed out as soon as his head hit his pillow. 

Everything in the mansion was normal the next day -except that Scrooge had gone into work instead of working from his home office- until Dewey disappeared halfway through the day. And normally that would've been fine, but Huey and Louie were still on edge from Louie's possession and didn't like the idea of not knowing where one of them was. Or why he wasn't answering his phone.

Their Dad and Della weren't panicking and their bond was calm so they knew he was okay but they were still worried. It wasn't like it wasn't like him to do that, it was, but he usually either told at least one of them beforehand or answered his phone when they called- he hadn't done either this time. And now wasn't a good time for him to not do that. They could reach out to him from their bond, poke him into remembering he had brothers who didn't know where he was and that he should let them know, but they shouldn't _have_ to do that. It wasn't like him to forget. Not when it came to them. 

They would just wait until he got back and let him explain himself, scold him accordingly, him apologize and promise not to do it again, and then they could move on from this whole mess. He just had to get back first. 

They decided to wait for him in the foyer, so they could catch him when he first got in. While they waited they talked about what he could possibly be doing before deciding that nothing could be good enough for him to forget about them. Okay, maybe that was a little mean -it was _Dewey_ , he'd never do that- but he did have a serve lapse in judgment. Seriously, what made him think it was a good idea to go off without telling them where right now? Well, whatever his reasoning was it wasn't good. 

Some time during their waiting for their brother Webby and Lena joined them wondering what they were doing. Once they were caught up to speed they shared a look before plopping down on the stairs next to the remaining boys. Wasn't like they had anything better to do, and they also wanted to know what was going on. Dewey didn't just run off without telling his brothers and now was the worst time for him to start. Plus, Magica was still out there, somewhere, and knew he had magic- he shouldn't be out right now. But Donald let him go out, which meant he was with someone, so that was good. However, he was still being reckless. Now was not the time to be reckless. 

A little while later while the four of them were chatting about nothing in particular the front door opened. They looked to it and Huey and Louie rushed forward as soon as they saw their brother. They quickly grabbed him a hug which he returned albeit a bit confused and turned to the girls to see if they knew what was going on. Webby frowned and Lena glared at him, alright then. 

"Where have you been?" Huey demanded to know. 

"Out? Didn't Dad let you know?" Dewey thought for sure he would've, or maybe he thought they already knew? But Dewey hadn't told them, so how would they have? 

"Yeah, _he_ did. Why didn't you? And why didn't you answer your phone?" 

Dewey looked at said phone, "Oh, must not have heard it." Whoops. Whatever Huey was about to say next was interrupted by Louie's name being called from down the hall. He shrugged then took off to see what was up. And that was when the fighting started. 

"Dewey, why did you leave? Now is not the time to run off without saying something!" 

"Launchpad wanted to go get his Darkwing poster signed!" That? _That_ was the reason?! Why, why did Dewey not think sometimes? Was he even aware of the danger he could've been in? Probably, knowing him. He just chose to ignore it. 

"You didn't have to go with him!" 

"It was better than being cooped up in the mansion!" 

Huey stepped closer to him, " _There's_ a reason we're in the mansion right now! In case you've forgotten, our little brother was possessed a few weeks ago!" The girls took a step back knowing things were about to get heated. "And the person responsible is still out there! When we couldn't find you we didn't know what to think, and then you couldn't even answer your phone! The only reason we knew you were okay was that Dad wasn't panicking, we should've gotten that information from you." He finished coldly. 

Dewey glared at him, "Okay, I get it! I messed up! You don't have to yell at me for it!" As the fighting continued Louie walked back into the room and sighed as his eyes landed on them. 

"I was gone for five minutes!"

"They only needed one." Lena replied. _Of course_ they did. With everything going on, Louie was surprised it took this long for a fight to break out. Nonetheless, he had to end it. He walked over to and got in between them, separating them before they could get physical, it certainly looked to be heading that way. The response was instantaneous, with a buffer between them they seemed to lose most of their anger. Especially since that buffer was their brother, who was always the last person they wanted to hurt when they got like this. He looked at both of them and then settled on Dewey. 

"That wasn't cool. We were worried, _anything_ could've happened to you and we would have almost no way of knowing cause you didn't tell us you were leaving. You can't do that, not to us." Louie stated seriously and Dewey looked at him abashed, he had that effect on his brothers, was able to make them realize just how badly they messed up. Dewey stepped back from his brothers for a second before shaking his head and grabbing them into a hug, repeatedly saying how sorry he was. 

"I don't know, I just thought, enough time had passed by that I could go off on my own and be fine. And I was so eager to go that I just, forgot to tell you. We were getting better about being apart from each other again so I thought you'd be fine but I should've asked you first. I'm so sorry." To say Dewey felt bad was an understatement, why did he do this? Why didn't he think sometimes? And why did he do it in moments where he _really_ shouldn't do stuff like that? They deserved better, and he was going to give it to them. 

Huey looked at his brothers, "I think we need to talk." 

* * *

Once they got to their bedroom -this was definitely a private conversation- and sat on Louie's bed, Huey began, "Okay, first- Dewey, you have to promise to never do something like that again." Dewey nodded vigorously. "Good." He turned to Louie and became much gentler. "Louie, you have to talk about this, you haven't really told us anything since the night you had that nightmare and we've been patient but you can't keep going like this. Although to be fair, we haven't been talking either. All of us need to, even if it'll be hard. ...It's your call, alright?" 

Louie nodded, "Alright." Was he ready to talk about it? He thought back to that conversation he had with Lena, he still didn't know how to do it but being ready was something else entirely. He wanted to be, he wanted their family to be able to get over this. The first step of that was talking, and that first step layed with him and him alone. They wouldn't force him, they would never do that, so he had to force himself. "I don't know if I'm ready, but I want us to move past this... I just don't know _how_ to talk about it. Where would I even start?" And that was the real problem, wasn't it? How _did_ they talk about something like this? 

They were the Duck Boys, they could talk about _anything_ to each other. 

"I guess I have too many feelings about it to really pick one to start with. I'm scared, upset, mad, I feel _violated._ I didn't ask for her to possess me, I didn't ask for her to _use_ me to hurt my family. And I know it wasn't me but it _was_. It was _my_ body, _my_ magic, she- she didn't have any right to use it but she did. I hate her." He said venomously then paused to collect his thoughts. His brothers grabbed his hands and he continued. "I don't say that lightly you know, I really do hate her. ...But I'm also scared of her, terrified of what she could do. I know you guys said I was strong enough to fight her off again if I had to but what if I'm not? What if we have to face off against her and I just freeze?" He looked at them. "What if she hurts you?" 

They gripped his hands tighter. "She hurt _you_ , Louie, she's still hurting you. And I just feel like no matter what we do we can't make that go away, it sucks. ...I'm terrified of her too, seeing her _possess_ you... it was the scariest moment of my life. Your side of the bond was just, _gone,_ we couldn't feel you- no matter how hard we tried. It was like you were dead. And you just looked so, lifeless, and she was just _using_ you." Huey clenched his fists and Dewey grabbed his free hand. His brothers squeezed them and he took a breath. "I know we were able to break you out of it, and I knew then that we would be but it was still terrifying seeing you like that. Well, not you but," 

"Yeah." Dewey softly said. They got it. "I mean, it's pretty much the same for me. She possessed you and it was scary, we couldn't feel you and that was _terrifying,_ and now- and now she still has control and it's not fair! Why does she get to do this to us and then go on with her life like nothing happened?! Meanwhile, we're still _here_." He waved his hand around flimsily then sighed and grabbed his brother's once again. "We're still _stuck_ , and it seems like we're _always_ gonna be stuck! Like no matter what we do she's hovering over us in some way!" He deflated. "It's just not fair." 

The boys fell silent not having, and not being able to think of, anything else to say. What were they gonna do then? How were they gonna get through this? "What do we do now?" Huey asked quietly, giving a voice to their thoughts. "I thought talking about it would help but it hasn't." 

"No, it has." Louie disagreed. "It feels good to admit all of that out loud, like I'm really being honest with myself. ...This isn't something we can just get over with one conversation, and that's okay. We just have to keep talking to each other. And for the record, you guys are helping, there's _no way_ I'd be able to cope with this without you." 

Dewey smiled at him, "Also for the record, you are strong enough to fight her. You may freeze, and that's okay, but you'll snap yourself out of it, we know you will." Louie smiled back gratefully. He was right, he would be able to, he just hoped he wouldn't have to. 

"None of us are ever gonna get hurt by her again." Huey said resolutely. His brothers nodded in agreement just as determinedly, she would never get to any of them never again. They wouldn't let her. 

"So we talk to each other, and maybe the others- definitely Dad, and eventually we'll get through this." Dewey paused for a second as something occurred to him. "Hey, didn't he put some sort of spell on us so this kinda thing wouldn't happen? Did it wear off or something?" It was possible, it had before- when they first moved into the mansion. But he had strengthened it, right? Since they were gonna be living with Scrooge and that could be dangerous, he was their over-protective overly cautious Dad, of course he did. So how did she get through it? There was _no way_ she was stronger than him, he was one of the most powerful sorcerers to ever exist! According to their Tios anyways, but they didn't have any reason not to believe them. 

"Maybe... I mean the last time we got it put on us was when we first moved in here, and _a lot_ has happened since then. It's possible it's gotten weaker and she was able to break through it. That's really the only explanation, she's not stronger than him, we know she's not. We'll just have to make sure it can't happen again." 

Louie looked at his oldest brother, "Okay, how do we do that?" He _never_ wanted anything like this to happen to his brothers, and he was gonna do whatever he could to make sure it didn't. 

After the triplets took off to their room Lena got a thoughtful look on her face, it was obvious they were gonna talk about Louie's possession, maybe it was time for her to talk about her time with Magica. If she didn't it would just keep weighing on her mind, and she really didn't want Magica to have that kinda power over her. Not anymore. She turned to Webby who was already looking at her with a smile and felt herself get more confident. Yeah, it was time. "Pink, I think I'm ready to talk about Magica."

Webby lit up, "Really?! That's great, do you wanna go somewhere more comfortable or....?" Actually, there were a couple of people she wanted in on this conversation. 

Once the four of them -her, Webby, Tea Time, and Scrooge, Donald was busy with something else- were in the den she let out a sigh and started pacing. Oh, where to start this? Well, she could start by telling them what she told Louie, cause it's been weeks and she still didn't. "I don't know how to deal with this. I mean, I guess I've been getting better, being around all of you has definitely helped a lot." They smiled at her and she felt a weak one reply back. "But she still has this _thing_ over me, like I'm still watching my shadow expecting her to pop out and berate me for whatever reason. I hate it. I hate that she's still affecting me so much, I hate that I'm still scared of her. Of what she can do to me, to all of you- she possessed Louie for crying out loud! And I know that's not my fault, that I'm not responsible for her actions but I still feel bad about it, like if I hadn't come into your lives if wouldn't have happened." 

"But if you hadn't we would've never met." Webby replied. "And you would still be stuck with her, and that's not any better. You deserve to be around people that care about you." 

Mrs. Beakley nodded in agreement, "Lena, you have nothing to feel bad about, no one blames you- least of all Louie. Besides, we don't know for sure nothing like this would've ever happened to any of the kids, at least this way you have an actual roof over your head and are surrounded by love and support. It's not an ideal situation but that doesn't mean there aren't good things about it. Della's home, you're back, those are both _very_ good things, dear." Her being back was a good thing, her being here- in this house and with these people, was a good thing. _She_ was a good thing. 

Lena smiled, "Thanks, Tea Time." She turned to Webby and her smile got softer. "Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me." Webby broke out into a grin and hugged her. God, she would never get tired of that. 

"Yer still scared arenae ye, lass?" Scrooge correctly guessed and she nodded. "That's okay, that doesnae mean yer weak or that yew'll always be scared -honestly yer ane o' the strongest people ae know- and it takes a strong person ta let people in. Ye dinnae how ta deal with this? There's a lot all o' us dinnae know how ta deal with, we get through it by bein' there fer each other. And that's how yew'll get through this." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Yer ane o' us now, Lena, and we dinnae let our own suffer alone." 

"I guess I can be okay with that." Lena replied cheekily. She would be okay, eventually, she was surrounded by the great people in the world, of course she would be okay. It was just gonna be a _long_ journey to get there. And she really didn't have any other choice than to be okay with that as well. Whatever, at least she wouldn't be doing it on her own. 

* * *

While everyone else was spending their time talking and listening, Donald was going through his library just as he told his Uncle and Della he would. There had to be _something_ in here to get rid of Magica. If only it was organized in any sort of system, give him a break, raising three triplets took a lot of his time. He hadn't exactly done any upkeep with this place in a while. 

"Need any help?" A voice came from behind him, Della, he immediately recognized. He thought about being stubborn and saying no but she had always been able to see right through that. Their separation hadn't done anything to change that. The only question was if he wanted _her_ help, things between them were currently awkward at best. Was he ready to be around her for a long time? He spent ten years away from her, he wanted to spend every minute he could with her. 

"Sure." 

He heard her walk into the library and whistle. "Man, Donnie, I was right about it being bigger. And messy? That's not like you." She teased. "How do you know where anything is?" 

"It's not that messy." That was true, there were still books on the shelf and artifacts in their place holders, there was just no system in place. Besides, the mess that was scattered around the floor was mostly contributed to the boys. They tended to be a little shortsighted when it came to magic. But he didn't mind, he loved that they loved it so much, he just wished they'd pick up after themselves. But 10-year-olds were not the best at that. "The boys just tend to forget to put things back when they're done with them." 

"Wonder who they got that from?" She asked sarcastically. 

He gave her a look, "Both of us." 

She laughed, "Probably, yeah." Then came up next to him. "What're we looking for exactly? It's like a spell or a potion or something?" 

"Anything that can help. Preferably something permanent." And with that in mind the two of them got to work, the air had settled into something awkward but it seemed like both of them were content to ignore it. It was actually kind of nice, being there with her, for a second it almost felt like nothing had changed. Then he was reminded all too quick that it had, everything had changed and he wasn't sure he knew how to handle her suddenly being back. 

He was still happy, don't get him wrong, but it was like some part of him forgot how to have a sister, how to be a brother. And remembering wasn't gonna be easy, and there was _so_ much other stuff going on- he was really tempted to just not remember at all. But that wasn't how he did things, especially not with someone as important to him as his sister. Even if remembering brought forward feelings he didn't want to think about. He didn't want to be mad at her, but he was. He didn't want to be upset with her, but he was. He didn't want to be unsure of her place in his life, but he was. 

She left, for ten years! You just didn't do that to someone you cared about. It made him wonder if she cared at all. 

What was he thinking, of course she cared! He just wished she'd show it better. She was trying, really hard, to make it up to all of them, it was very clear she regretted what she did. But then, why did she do it in the first place? Okay, maybe she hadn't been ready to be a mom, but leaving wasn't the answer! She should've stayed, they should've worked on it together. 

"You should have stayed." He said quietly. 

"What?" She replied confused. 

"You should have stayed, Della! You shouldn't have left your family, your boys, me." He deflated and she looked at him sadly. "We could've figured this out together." Together, the way it was supposed to be. The way it hadn't been in ten years.

"...I don't think I should say sorry again, I mean- I am, but what's that gonna do? You're still gonna be upset and mad, I'm still gonna be regretful, I just don't want to say it so much it loses it's meaning, you know? I don't know how to fix this, Donnie, fix us, but I want to. Ever since I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not the boys' mom it's what I've wanted most. I don't know what I was thinking honestly, how could I have left you? You're my best friend, my other half, and I don't know if I'm still that to you, but I want to be." Knowing she wanted to work on this as much as he did was comforting, but was it enough? 

Yes, if she was willing to try _so hard_ to get his forgiveness then it was enough. "Della, I'm might be mad at you the rest of my life, and I'll probably never forgive you but I want to fix us too. I just have to know one thing, why? Why leave? Why was that the solution you came up with?" 

"I was scared, I was terrified that I didn't know how to be a mom and I would mess it up, the spear gave me an out. I stopped thinking for a second too long and we all paid the price for it. I didn't want to leave, not really, I never wanted to leave any of you, but I did. Even if I didn't mean to, even if I didn't want to, I did. I understand why you can't forgive me, I can't forgive myself either. So, where does this leave us?" 

Where did it leave them, indeed. "I don't know, you're my sister, my twin sister, nothing will ever change that. I missed you like crazy, I was a mess without you- even if I hid it well-, and I'm so incredibly happy you're alive and home. But I'm also furious you left in the first place. We needed you, _they_ needed you, you shouldn't have gotten an out and you shouldn't have taken it, and you don't get one now. I know you know that, know how badly you messed up, I know I didn't need to tell you any of this, but I deserve to. You hurt me, Della, you hurt me in a way I thought you never would. You were the one person I counted on to be there for me, the one person I knew I could get through anything with, was I just not that for you?" 

"No, you were!" She was quick to protest. "Donald, I was so excited to be a parent, so excited to do it with you, but I just got in my head too much. Convinced myself that I wouldn't be a good parent and that they were better off without me. I should've told you how I felt, I know that now and I think I knew it back then too. I was just scared, scared that you would hate me, scared you would agree." She finished softly and he looked at her shocked. How badly had her mind turned against her that she thought _that_? 

"Della, I would've never agreed, you would've been a great parent, I know you would have. And if you had stayed you would've seen that too. But now? ...Great parents don't leave, you had your chance and you blew it. You just have to accept that. But listen to me, _I don't hate you, I could never hate you_." She started crying and he sighed and drew her into his arms. "You should've talked to me, I would've understood." 

She pulled away from him and wiped a tear from her eye. "You always do when it matters." 

Were things suddenly okay between them? No, not by a long shot but they would get there eventually. Would it be what it was before? Probably not, but maybe it would be something just as good. The Duck Twins were back together, everything would be just fine. 


	16. Moving Forward is Easier as a Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone starts to move on and some people come by for a visit.

"Hey, do you guys think we should try having a magic lesson again?" Huey asked his brothers the next day. It was true their last one hadn't gone so well, but they had done it too soon, maybe enough time had passed by now. He thought it had, but he wanted to know what they thought. 

Dewey shrugged, "I'm down if you guys are." And with that they both looked at their brother. 

Was Louie ready? Could he conjure his magic without thinking of her? He wanted to be, he loved his magic, he loved using it. He wouldn't let her change that. Louie nodded, "Let's do it." 

The three of them went looking for their Dad and found him on the phone. He held up a finger when he saw them then kept talking for a few moments before ending the call. "Hi, boys. What's up? Everything alright?" They quickly nodded. 

"Who was that?" 

"Oh just your Tios, they were checking in." While the boys were a bit upset they didn't get to talk to them they had more important things to think about. Which brought them back to why they had sought him out.

Huey answered, "Okay. Umm, we were wondering if we could have another magic lesson? We know the last one didn't go too well, but we think enough time has passed by now. We're ready, Dad." Donald studied them and their determined stances, and came to an immediate decision. It was time. He had been waiting for this day to come, he wasn't trying to rush their healing by any means but if they were ready for a lesson then it meant they were starting to move on. He couldn't describe the relief he felt. And hey, if they were doing that then maybe he could too.

Seeing Louie like that was easily the scariest moment of his life and seeing what it was doing to his boys worried him to no end. But, they were strong, and so was he. And if they were ready to move forward then he just had to be ready with them. "Okay, I'm more than happy to give you one. Let's go up to our room, you wanna do it now, right?" They nodded. The four of them made their way to the room and walked in with excitement in the air. The triplets _loved_ their magic lessons, and loved that they were getting back to them. 

Donald scurried around the room as he tried to think of something to teach them, he hadn't really been expecting this, and with everything else going on he didn't have time to prepare. But he had to think of something, this had to go well, it was important for all of their recoveries. But what? He could try offensive magic again, but that didn't seem like a good idea. There had to be something... 

The boys looked at each other and Louie spoke up, "We were wondering how to make sure nothing like my possession ever happens to one of us again. Is there a way to do that? I mean, I know we had that spell but..." He paused, realizing what he just implicated. "Not that we think this is your fault! We know it's not we just," 

"Want to make sure it doesn't happen again." Donald finished. "I know that, boys, it's okay. That spell _was_ supposed to protect you, but evidently it didn't do its job well enough. So you need something else." He knew what to make this lesson about. 

"There's no spell or potion out there to protect from you every dangerous situation, not a permanent one anyway, but there is a way to protect yourselves from things like possession. It's a rune, a very advanced rune and one you have to do for yourself, I would've put it on you if I could've but I didn't think something like this would ever happen." The boys smiled understandingly at him and he gave them one back. "I thought that spell would've been enough but there were some problems with it, this rune -however- is as foolproof as it gets." 

Dewey looked at him eagerly, "So how do we do it?" His brothers looked at their Dad just as eagerly and he sighed. 

"I don't know if you're ready for it." They started to protest and he held a hand up. "You haven't used your magic in weeks, you're still dealing with a lot of things, and it's hard enough on its own. Look, I get it, I know you want to protect each other and I know that you're really worried, but you shouldn't push it. Start with something simpler and go from there." 

"So we just need to get some practice in?" 

"You need to be comfortable with your magic, and to trust yourselves and it. That's the only way it'll work." Donald smiled at them softly. "You guys can do the rune successfully, you're at that skill level. It's a matter of if you should right now." The three of them trusted their magic and they trusted themselves, so they were good on that front, but since Louie hadn't been using his magic his brothers hadn't either. Their Dad was right, now wasn't a good time to use that rune. But what were they gonna do until it was? There was nothing for them to do, nothing except to start using their magic again and get past their issues. Well, one of those things could be done now. 

Huey and Dewey had no trouble using their magic, and once it left them it was like they never stopped, Louie however... he was having some problems. He trusted his magic, he did! And he knew _he_ was in control of it and no one else, but he hadn't used it in weeks, what if he messed up? His brothers and Dad were there, whatever happened it would be okay. He would be okay. He could do this. 

He took a deep breath in and extended his hand, a small flame shot out. Okay, so far so good. He was in control, no one else was. No one else could control him, his magic, only he could. _He was in control._

Slowly, he cupped his hand and extinguished the flame, his beak widened into a grin as he did it successfully. The others matched his grin and Dewey held his hand up for a high five. Louie looked at him for a few seconds before high fiving him with a playful eye roll. "Louie, that was so good!" 

"I just made a flame." He attempted to wave off. 

"You made progress, don't sell yourself so short." His Dad bent down. "I'm so proud of you, kiddo. Of all of you." Louie's eyes welled up and he left forward and hugged him, his brothers joined a second later. Donald tightened his arms around them and pulled them close to him. "I am, you guys are moving forward, it's what I've wanted for all of us since everything happened. I love you boys, so so much." 

"We love you too, Dad." 

* * *

They decided to end the lesson after that, the boys having the knowledge they needed. They could do it, they could make sure something like this never happened again, but not right now. The thought of that was almost unbearable but they knew nothing good would happen if they attempted it at that moment, and that was the last thing they needed right now. Reconnecting with their magic would be easy, their magic was a part of themselves and being one with it was as easy as breathing, it was getting past their issues that was the hard part. But they just had a magic lesson, and it went well- nothing bad happened, they were all okay. They were starting to move past Louie's possession, soon it would be a horrible distant memory- they couldn't wait. 

But they knew better than to speed their recovery, they'd hate for things to start going well only for them to move two steps back. 

The time had come for Gladstone and Fethry to leave the mansion, they both had things to get back to, but they promised to come by and visit whenever they could. They said bye to the kids then turned to Della and gave her a hug with Gladstone giving her a genuine smile, all was forgiven. The three of them exchanged a few words then Donald stepped in and gave his cousins a farewell, sincerely meaning his promise to talk to them soon. 

They left after that and everyone split off to do their own things. The kids noticed how Donald and Della went off together and made a note of it. "Huh." Huey said. "Looks like we aren't the only ones moving forward." He said to his brothers. 

"Hey, I am too, and once I get a trauma-free brain it's over for you suckers!" Lena announced making the others laugh. "So where'd you guys run off to before?" She asked the triplets. 

"Our Dad gave us a magic lesson." 

Webby looked at them hopefully, "You guys are having those again?" 

"Yerp, I mean we figured it's been long enough now and it went well, so why wouldn't we have more?" Dewey answered her not seeing the thoughtful look on Lena's face. Donald had once told her magic wasn't something to be scared of, that it was a part of her, did she want to get lessons on it too? Maybe... she wasn't scared of it anymore, or as scared, but that didn't mean she liked it. Okay, sure Donald and the boys had magic and they were all great and kind and good people, but so did Magica, and she wasn't good by any means. And that was where her magic came from, did that mean it was bad? 

Huey noticed how quiet she had gotten and hesitantly spoke up, "Lena? Everything okay?" 

Lena looked at all of them startled, "Sorry, I zoned out." She couldn't leave it at that, could she? No, she promised herself she'd be more open about her problems. "Wait there's more to it. I just started thinking... my magic comes from Magica and she was bad, that means it's bad, right?" 

"Magic isn't anything, it's just magic. It's the user that makes it good or bad. And you're good, Lena." Huey assured her. She gave him a small smile and he continued. "You know, I'm sure if you wanted him to our Dad would be more than happy to give you some lessons. He knows practically everything there is to know about it and he can probably answer any questions you have better than we can. No pressure though." 

"Yeah, he offered. I dunno yet, I still have some stuff to work through." That was an understatement. 

Huey shrugged, "Alright, like I said no pressure." 

Their conversation was cut off by a knock at the front door. They looked at each other confused as Mrs. Beakley came and answered it, did Gladstone and Fethry forget something? "Oh, it's you two." Mrs. Beakley's displeased voice said; they curiously looked around her to see Panchito and José standing there. The boys froze.

"In the flesh, did you miss us?" Panchito asked, wiggling an eyebrow. 

She scoffed, "Hardly. Let me go fetch Donald, I assume he doesn't know you're here?" They nodded then noticed the kids and swept around Mrs. Beakley. The triplets and Webby rushed forward and the boys tackled them in a hug, Webby joining in as soon as José gestured for her to. The four of them started excitedly talking at once and the other two nodded along, keeping up as best as they could. "Alright, children, let them breathe." The kids pouted but did so. 

"Ah, it's alright, Mrs. B." Panchito waved her off. "They're just excited. Not that I can blame them, it's not every day their favorite Tios come by for a visit." 

"You're our only Tios." Louie responded with a raised eyebrow. 

Mrs. Beakley took her leave after that and went to find Donald, and was a little surprised to see Della with him. That was unexpected, last she heard they were still fighting, thankfully it looked like that was coming to a close. She coughed to get his attention and he looked at her confused. "There are some people here to see you." Donald turned to his sister confused but she just shrugged so the two of them followed Mrs. B to where the people were. Who could be here to see him? Not Mickey or the others, he had told them it was a bad time to come by, and he had talked to Gryo and Fenton recently. So who could it be? 

He got his answer when they arrived at the foyer and saw the kids piling someone, no not someone- two someones. Panchito and José, to be precise. He stopped in his tracks which made the party on the floor look over at him. His... friends -let's go with that- smiled as soon as they saw him and the kids quickly got up. Donald raced forward and the three of them did their customary handshake. "Fellas! What are you doing here?" He asked as soon as they were done, the kids looked at them wondering the same thing. 

"Well, we said we would stop by as soon as we could, and we can." José explained, then noticed the person that had been standing next to where Donald was before and nudged Panchito to get his attention. The three of them stared at each other for a few moments before José spoke up, "Della?" He asked disbelievingly, she smiled at the two of them sheepishly. And that had been the push they all needed, they rushed to each other, meeting in the middle and jumping into a hug. 

"Della, you're here! You're alive!" 

"I'm alive!" She answered Panchito with a joyful laugh, sometimes she had a hard time believing that as well. 

They continued to hug for a few minutes before Panchito and José looked at Donald. "Donal', why didn't you tell us she was back?" 

He rubbed his neck, "It's been kinda hectic around here." And with that the room grew somber. The two of them nodded understandingly, Donald had told them what had happened to Louie. He had needed someone to talk to and Scrooge just hadn't been enough, in fact, that probably had something to do with the reason they were here. Well, he was glad they were, he... needed them. It almost scared him how much he did. 

"But things are slowing down, so that's good." Louie said, breaking him out of his thoughts. He smiled at him and noticed most of the other occupants in the room do the same. He seemed nervous from all the attention but he didn't say anything to contradict it so Donald counted it as a win. He couldn't tell you how happy he was to hear him say that, that _Louie_ was the one to say it. And he meant it, Donald could tell he did, and that made him even happier. It was finally looking like he would be okay, that they all would. Donald knew they would but seeing it made it real, like it was actually happening. Nothing could make him happier right now. 

* * *

The kids decided to let the adults have their reunion and catch up and went upstairs to do something else. The girls split off from the triplets who looked at each other and shrugged, it was none of their business. Knowing those two... it was probably best if they didn't ask. "I'm glad Tio Panchito and José are here, it's always good to see them. Plus they make Dad really happy." Huey said as they roamed the halls, having no destination in mind and just enjoying the company. 

"Do you think he told them about, you know?" Dewey asked, still not be able to say the words. Maybe he never would be, maybe none of them ever would be. 

"Oh for sure. That's probably why they're here, they definitely didn't know about Della. I'm glad they're here too." Louie decided. "Dad's different around them, good different. And if people are coming over again it means things are moving forward again." He couldn't tell you how long he had been waiting for that. It finally felt like there was an end to this nightmare. 

"I think it's sweet." Huey said in response to the good different part. "Like they bring out the best in each other." 

"Like they're meant to be around one another, like fate!" Dewey realized. 

"Awe." Huey replied while Louie made a face, "Gross."

His brothers looked at him, "I thought you liked romance?" 

"I do, but fate's not really my thing." 

"So you don't believe it was fate that brought us here?"

"No I believe it was you blowing up the houseboat." Louie replied matter-of-factly. Which, to be fair... 

Dewey glared at him, "Forgive and forget, Louie." His brother shook his head at him which made him stick his tongue out. Louie did it back and the two of them busted into giggles as Huey fondly rolled his eyes with a smile. "Besides, I didn't blow it up, it was just a small fire." 

"Just." Huey echoed. It was then his turn to get a tongue stuck out at. "You're a child." 

"We're all children, Hubert." The three of them joked around for a few more minutes before they heard the sound of laughter and curiously followed it back to the foyer. The adults -minus Mrs. B- were still there, doing what the three of them had been doing a moment ago and looking just as happy as they had been. But there was something, different, about their Dad's expression, it was one they had never seen on him before. They didn't know what to call it, but definitely something he hadn't shown before, at least not that they had seen. They looked at each other, huh. 

This was the most fun he had had in a while, Donald decided, him with his sister and the other two Callaberos, just being themselves and acting like nothing had changed. The only thing really missing was his kids. Oh, his kids, they had taken off a while ago now. It was sweet that they wanted to give the four of them some time to catch up, but they should be here too. They loved Panchito and José just as much as he did- differently, but it was still there. They should be here too. He should go find them. 

He nodded to the others before stepping away, letting them know what he was going to do. He then faced the stairs and immediately noticed his boys standing there, he gave them a weak smile and gestured towards the direction of their room and they nodded. They needed to talk. 

When they got to the room Donald allowed them to get comfortable before saying anything- and so he could think of something to say. Oh god, how to start this conversation? Well, they knew the three cabs used to date so that helped, but lately he had been thinking... after all of this stuff settled down he wanted to try dating them again, but only if the three of them were okay with it. If he was talking to his friends again, he should get to reconnect with other parts of his past. That was how he saw it at least. When all of this was over they wouldn't need him 24/7, they would have Scrooge and Mrs. B, and maybe even Della. He wasn't the only one caring for them anymore and he was slowly learning to be okay with that. 

He was still their Dad, but maybe now he could be more than that. "Before anything else, I want you three to know you're the most important things in my life, nothing changes that. And I'll always be here for you, whenever you need me, but I've been thinking, if I were to date Panchito and José again, would that be okay? Not right now, it's still too soon, but after everything settles down." He watched them to see if he could spot any changes in emotion, he was usually good at that when it came to them, nothing so far. 

The three of them shared a look and he waited patiently for them to say something. This was big, they needed a few moments. "I think that'd be okay." Huey said as they broke the look. "They make you happy, Dad, in a way that we don't. We just want you to be happy." Donald smiled at him then looked at the other two, they were definitely the ones who would have a problem with this. Well whatever it was, it wasn't one he couldn't fix. 

"Yeah, what Huey said. It's okay with me too." Was all Louie said, but it was enough. Oh boy was it enough. 

And with that he turned at Dewey, who looked much more hesitant than his brothers did. "If you start dating them, would that mean you would have less time for us? ...You've just always put us first and I don't want to lose that." Donald nodded understandingly, he didn't want to lose another parental figure, after everything the three had been through he didn't blame him. 

"You three always come first in my books, I'm never not going to have time for you. But I'm also not the only one taking care of you anymore, you have Scrooge and Mrs. B now too, you don't need me to be around all the time anymore. And that's okay, I'm glad you have other people that care about you almost as much as I do. Hey," He made Dewey look at him. "You're not gonna lose me, Dewey." Dewey nodded at him with teary eyes and he widened his arms for a hug. He fell into them immediately, his brothers following not even a second later. "Would it be okay, Dewey?" 

"It'd be okay." Okay, now all that was left was talking to his friends and seeing if they were on the same page. That shouldn't be too hard, they usually were. 

Once he got back downstairs he saw the two of them still talking to Della and smiled to himself, looked like they were getting along without him then. Della noticed him and the face was making and decided to leave the three of them alone, being totally obvious about what she was doing. Why was everyone able to read him so well? Whatever, not important right now. 

His friends looked at him and he straightened himself, "We need to talk." 

"Yes, I think it's long overdue." The three of them moved to the houseboat where they were sure to have complete and total privacy and sat down on the deck. "So, where do we begin?" José asked, looking as unsure as the rest of them felt. "I missed you guys, missed us being together, it was, weird not having you next to me- I don't think I ever really got used to it. I know why we had to break up, and I know it was the right decision, that didn't mean it wasn't the hardest." The other two smiled at him and Donald sighed, he knew he had to be the one to lead the conversation, he was the reason they broke up after all. 

"I missed you guys too, it was so hard without you. After what happened to Della I didn't want to lose anyone else, but it was so hard being around you and being just friends. I had to focus on the boys, I couldn't be thinking about that stuff. But- for what it's worth I am sorry, I wish things could've been different." 

They looked at him understandingly, "It's not your fault, Donald, you did what you had to. That decision couldn't have been easy for you to make, but you did." Panchito let out a chuckle. "You were a parent before they were even born." Donald smiled, yeah, he had been. He was, but now it was time to start going after things he wanted. He had their blessing and he had his own, he could do this. 

"I want us to get back together." He blurted out and they stared at him shocked. "Not right now! There's still a lot going on here, even if we're starting to move forward, there's still too much progress to be made for me to entrain thoughts like that for too long. But after things get back to normal, or whatever the new normal will be, I'd really like that." He grew sheepish at the end, them always seeming to have that effect on him at the worst times possible. But they just smiled at him like they had been waiting to hear that the whole time. 

The two of them glanced at each other, "We'd like that too, Donal', we'd like that a lot." 


	17. Getting Back to Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louie wants to get back into his business and the twins reunite with their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long to come out just been in a bit of a funk, hopefully next one won't take as long.

Today was the day, today was the day Louie Duck got back into his business. He had been missing Louie Inc., with everything that had been going and was still going on it had been pushed to the back of his mind, but no more. If they were truly moving past everything he should get to focus on that stuff again, but where to start? He still had no idea what it was or what he could do with it, the stuff his brothers and Dad said he was good at flew around in his head, but none of them were good business things. He could talk to his Uncle Scrooge again, but he'd probably just ask him that question again. He was stuck, he hated being stuck. 

Unfortunately, it happened more than he'd like, fortunately, he knew what to do to get out of it. 

He needed help, but no one in his family would be able to, he had to think outside the box. Didn't Scrooge know someone who was in business? Or in the way he wanted to do it, all that hard work sounded hard, things were already hard enough as is. He needed this to be easy, he needed to make it easy. And who better person at that than Goldie O' Gilt? 

It was true, contacting her wasn't the best idea and she probably ~~definitely~~ couldn't be trusted, but she was his best bet right now. Now he just needed a way to get in contact with her. Well, that's what magic was for. Was there a way to find someone's number with magic? There had to be, but there was only one way to look for it. Reading was lucky he liked his magic so much, he'd never do it otherwise. 

One look through his spellbook later he was performing the spell he needed and finding her number, if she asked he could say he got it off his Uncle. If she even picked up that was. Surprisingly enough, she did. She didn't know who he was, which wasn't as surprising, but she did agree to help him- if nothing more than to annoy his Uncle. Great, he had a partner. Now what? He had to wait for her to get there, it would probably take a while so he could probably plan his next move. But what was his next move? Gah, he really wished he knew what he was doing. 

But that's what this whole thing was about, Scrooge's way wasn't working for him and those two were the only business people he knew -except Glomgold, but he'd soon rather willingly give up all his money than go to him-, Goldie would be able to help him in some way. For now, he waited. 

He didn't have to wait long though, after a few minutes there was an undignified shout from Scrooge's office that only one person could really cause. Wow, she got here fast. Well, guess it was showtime. "She's with me." Louie smugly said in response to his Uncle Scrooge's question. 

"Lad, this might not be a good idea right now." Scrooge told him with a meaningful look, and Louie got it, he did- he was really sensitive right now and still dealing with a lot, but he needed this. "You don't know what's she capable of." His Uncle stressed. And that was true, but if he were being honest he was expecting to get betrayed in some way by the end of this. That didn't change the fact that he needed it. He was tired of just sitting on the sidelines doing nothing, he needed control of his life again. He needed to do things he wanted to do again. 

He shrugged, "True, but I know what I'm doing." 

"Don't let her get too close, lad." He was warned in response. But he didn't need it, he could handle this. Whatever she threw at him he could handle it, he got through a possession and his... Della coming home, things that happened within days of each other! He could handle anything. 

Maybe he couldn't handle this. This being being currently trapped in the treasure box in his room. He could get out of it if he really wanted to, the problem was that he was feeling claustrophobic, and while he hated it before he absolutely despised it now. So he was starting to freak out. "Hey, let me outta here!" He said shakily. 

"You'll have to try harder than that, rookie." Goldie responded, sounding like she was rummaging through the room. Hah, she wouldn't find anything, the three of them kept any valuable things magically hid away. Their Dad was the only other person who could find them, and it was only cause he knew them so well. Though Louie did take issue with being called rookie. He was many things, but a rookie wasn't one of them. And with that in mind he focused on the lock and shot a tiny blast of magic at it, freeing himself. 

He clambered out of the chest and sat on the floor, breathing heavily. "Freedom." He gasped out. 

Goldie turned him. "Impressive. How'd you get out of there?" 

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve." He responded as he got up. There was no way he was telling her he had magic, that wouldn't end well, but there was also no way he was staying in that chest. "So now what?" 

"Now," She replied grabbing something out of his trash can. "We go here." 

Louie widened his eyes, "No, not there!" Anywhere but Doofus Drake's birthday party... Hasn't he been through enough?! ...But he did say he could handle this and he did still need to do something he wanted to... Ugh, fine he would go, but he wouldn't like it. He got possessed by Magica Da Spell and came out only emotionally scarred, he could handle Doofus Drake for a few hours. There was only one problem now, how to tell his brothers. 

It wasn't that long ago that Dewey went out on his own and freaked him and Huey out, and it would be worse for them cause Louie was the one who got possessed. He just had to convince them he needed to do this, shouldn't be too hard. They may not agree on everything but they were on the same page when it came to each other, and if Louie said this was something he needed to do then they would believe him. "Okay, fine, I just need to do something first." 

Goldie raised an eyebrow, "Telling your Uncle where we're going?" She asked a bit condescendingly. 

"No, my brothers." She continued to stare at him. "Look, it's important okay. If I run off without telling them they'll get worried, and I don't want to do that to them. Just give me a minute." He ran off before she could respond, it wasn't like she could do anything anyway. Hopefully she wouldn't go off without him. 

He found his brothers hanging out in the den and smiled when they noticed him. His smile grew thinner as he sat with them and he could tell they knew something was up so he just decided to rip the bandaid off. "I'm going out for a bit." They started to protest and he cut them off. "I'm not going alone and I'll be careful, but this is something I have to do. I need to start doing the things I want again, I can't keep living like this, like I'm not in control of anything. I need my life back." 

Their faces softened but they didn't think it was a good idea and Huey knew he would have to be the one to sat something. The only question was how, different techniques worked for his brothers- with Dewey you have to beat it into him, with Louie you had to be gentle and absolutely never yell at him. "I don't think that's the, best idea." He started out hesitantly. "Magica's still out there, it isn't safe for any of us to go out right now. I know we're starting to move on from everything and that's great! But we can do that here." 

"No I can't, not this part. I'm getting back into my business again and I need to learn how to do that, and I can't do it here. We can't live the rest of our lives in here, Magica or someone like her is always going to be out there, hiding away won't fix anything. And we're really starting to get better at being away from each other, I think we're at the point where we can handle a few hours, I know we are. Trust me." He said strongly. "I'll keep my side of the bond completely open, if something happens you'll know and you can come help me. I know you don't think this is a good idea but I do, I _need_ to do this." 

Huey shared a look with Dewey and sighed, they did trust him, more than anyone. If he needed to do this then he needed to do this, nothing they could say would talk him out of it, and they really preferred to not fight right now ~~again~~. Besides, they didn't want to be the reason his healing progress was held back, they wanted to be the reason he fully healed. "Okay, if you feel this strongly... go ahead, we won't make you stay. Have you talked to Dad yet?" 

"Crap." Louie knew there was something he was forgetting to do. 

Luckily his talk with his Dad went much smoother, he seemed to be glad Louie was getting interested in that stuff again more than anything. He only warned him to be careful, especially when he heard who he was going with. But Donald trusted Louie, trusted that he knew how to handle himself and that he would turn to his family if he couldn't. And honestly he was more worried about Doofus than Goldie, if his Uncle liked her she had to have some good in her. That didn't mean this wouldn't end in some form of betrayal, but it looked like Louie was expecting that. 

If she hurt him too bad he would definitely be having words with her, but otherwise this was Louie's thing. He waved him off as he and Goldie left, Donald giving her a warning look as he did so, then went to see what Huey and Dewey were up to. 

"We're gonna go work on our magic a bit." Huey told him and Donald nodded, glad the three of them were picking it up again, then asked if they needed any help. "I don't think so, but we'll come find you if we do." And with that the two of them took off to the backyard, leaving Donald all alone. With his kids busy he didn't really have anything to do, he could see what Webby and Lena were up to but he was pretty sure they were doing something with Mrs. B. Of course, Panchito and José were still there and the three of them could definitely find something to do- wait, thinking of them made him think of something else. Or someone else. His other friends- there was really no reason for him to not invite them over. So why didn't he? 

* * *

The phone call between the five of them was short but luckily they were all free and could come over shortly. This was actually happening, he was finally seeing his friends again after ten years apart. Oh god, he wasn't ready. What if he said or did something awkward, or they had nothing to talk about, or they had been apart too long and couldn't connect? What if seeing him made them decide they didn't want to be his friends anymore? 

Okay, he had to calm down, Panchito and José weren't like that- of course he reunited with them years before he thought of doing it with his other friends, but the point was that it had gone fine. There was no reason for him to believe this wouldn't. They agreed to come over, they were happy to even, which meant that they wanted to see him, and Della. Oh, he had to tell her they were coming over, she may need some time to prepare. Ten years on the moon had left her socializing skills, lacking, to say the least. She definitely needed to be aware of what was happening. 

"So where do we start?" Dewey asked his brother as soon as they got outside. 

"I need to not lose control of my magic again, and the best way to do it is with more practice- and better control of my emotions. But, that's for another time, right now I think it's best if we start with basics and work our way up from there."

"We haven't been not doing magic for _that_ long. Surely we can skip basics and get to some of the more intermediate stuff?" 

Huey shook his head, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, but maybe we can start with the basic spells? Those should be easy enough for us." Dewey agreed with that and the two of them started. As they did so Dewey noticed how focused his brother was and bit his beak, he had to say something, something else was clearly going on. 

"Are you that scared of losing control again?" Huey looked up from what he was doing,

"Not scared, just worried." He answered. "I know it wasn't entirely my fault, but it opened my eyes to seeing I need better control, we all do. Magic's wonderful, and I love doing it, but it's also dangerous and someone could get hurt if it's not done right, I know we've had a few close calls over the years. We're really powerful for our age, and that's good and bad, and it's times like this where it's more bad than good. I just, need, to do this." He turned back to his spell casting and didn't notice the frown on Dewey's face. 

Dewey walked up next to him. "Not disagreeing with you, but you don't have to push yourself so hard. You don't want it to happen again, I get that, you shouldn't punish yourself for it though. We're just getting back into this and I know I just said we haven't been not doing it for that long, but you can still get hurt if you push too far. Take it slow, Huey, you don't have to figure it all out in one day." 

Huey sighed, "I know I don't, I know my limits, Dewey." 

"Do you? Cause sometimes I really question that." He placed a hand on his shoulder, "You're always so willing to put yourself on the back burner if it means protecting someone else and I don't like that, none of us do. You gotta put yourself first, you gotta forgive yourself for things. I know that's why you're _really_ doing this." Obviously he did, it was pretty apparent by now that he knew his brothers better than he knew himself. It really came in handy in times like this, now if Huey would only see that. Cause he was smart about a lot of things, but he was pretty oblivious when it came to himself. 

"Dewey, please I need to do this, my magic is the only thing I have control of right now!" 

This was the most fun Louie had had in a while, not that that was really surprising. Everything back at the mansion was all tense and awkward, even if it was slowly starting to get better. A break from it all was definitely needed. He did miss his brothers, and felt weird being here without them -it would absolutely be more fun if they were- but this was good for him. And he was actually bonding with Goldie! That wasn't something he was expecting but it wasn't unwelcome in any way, it felt like someone finally got the con-artist side of him. It made him happy in a way he couldn't describe. But he still wasn't letting his guard down, he still knew how this ended. 

"Him." He said in response to her question of who they should go after first. She agreed and he quickly came up with an idea, he was really in his element here- thinking on his feet was what he did best. Huh, maybe that's what he brought to adventures- quick thinking, seeing angles. Things he always thought he could do but never really had the chance. Well, what better time to stretch those muscles than now? 

Cause he wanted to bring something to adventuring, even if he didn't really like it without some kind of reward, his family liked it and he liked being with his family. And he knew that as soon as everything settled down they would start going on them again, and honestly, he couldn't wait. Maybe he really was starting to move past everything. He couldn't tell you how good that felt. But now he had to focus on the task at hand, getting rid of the competition. Glomgold was an easy target to take out, all Louie really had to do was get the ball rolling and he would take care of the rest. Mark, however, would be harder, but he could do it. 

Suddenly he felt a jolt of something he couldn't place in his bond and wondered if he would be the one needing saving. If he really wanted to he could reach into it, see what exactly was going on, but he had to focus. He had to trust his brothers could handle whatever was going on. And if they could trust him with this, he could trust them with that. 

"You don't _have_ to be there." Donald said to his sister as he watched her pace. He had just told her their friends were coming over for a bit of reunion and she was, nervous, to say the least. "I mean sure, they probably really want to see you, but they'll understand if it's too much." 

She shook her head, "No, I want to be there, I want to see them, I'm just... nervous. Anxious, even. I just, need to calm down, I'm overworking myself, this'll be fine. This will be fine, right?" Donald nodded. "Okay, I can do this, I mean, I've done everything else, this is nothing I can't handle. Thanks for telling me, Donnie." 

He placed a hand on her and gave her a comforting smile, "Of course, it was bad enough I sorta sprang Fethry and Gladstone on you, I couldn't do that again, and with this many people. You've had to reunite with so many people, Della, and in such a short amount of time, if you can't do this it's okay, no one will think any less of you. You don't have to push yourself to do things, you have plenty of time." Cause he had noticed how much she had been pushing herself lately and the last thing they needed right now was for one of them to burn out. There was never a really good time for it, but with everything already going on this was an especially bad one. If they wanted to move past everything they had to be at their best. 

"I know that, but I need to do this, okay? They're my _friends,_ I've missed them as much as I've missed everyone else, I need to see them." Donald gave her an unsure look. "Okay, how 'bout this? If it gets too much for me, if I get too overwhelmed, I step back a bit. I say I need some air or something and leave, would that be okay?" 

"Yeah," Donald nodded, "It would." The doorbell suddenly rang from the foyer and they looked at each other. "Ready?" 

"Ready." They went downstairs and Donald went to open the door, fighting back his own nerves. As soon as he opened it he was tackled in a hug and his nerves completely flew out the door, they were just as happy to see him as he was them, he had nothing to be worried about. He hugged them back as best as he could've and the five of them stayed like that for a few minutes before Donald remembered the other person in the room. He turned back to see her watching them with a smile, he offered a hand to her and she let him pull her into the hug. 

"Oh my god, Della!" Minnie cheered as soon as she saw her. The others then noticed her as well and began asking a ton of questions, she answered them to the best of her ability but Donald could see how overloaded she was getting so he brought the attention away from her. Besides, he wanted to know what they had been up to too. 

"Come in, come in! There's so much we all have to catch up on, let's move somewhere more comfortable." They all agreed to that easily enough and moved to the den as Donald shouted up the stairs. "'Chito, José, they're here!" Two sets of footsteps quickly thudded down the stairs and they excitedly landed in front of him before making their way to the den. Donald followed after them with a fond smile and came in to see his friends reuniting which made his smile grew wider. All of his friends in one place, he missed this. 

* * *

The backyard fell silent as they both tried to process what Huey had just said. Huey, for his part, definitely didn't mean to say it and was now questioning all of his life choices. And Dewey was waiting for his brother to speak before saying anything. He did, but it took him a few minutes. "I couldn't control Louie getting hurt, and I couldn't control Della coming back, and I can't control any of our feelings over that, but I can control my magic." He said quietly. 

"That doesn't mean you have to overwork yourself. I get it, okay? I do, but that's not the answer." 

"Then what is?" Huey asked utterly lost. He didn't know what to do next, and when he didn't know something he turned to his brothers and Dad. Lucky for him at least one of them was close by when he needed it. 

"Realizing you can't control everything and being okay with that, or at least trying to be. It sucks, and all the three of us want is for each other to always be safe and happy but we can't control that as much as we want to. It's true we have, an unusual amount of say in each other's life and decisions, but that's not always enough. Sometimes things just happen. All we can really do is be there for each other." 

Huey softly smiled, "You sound like Dad." Dewey looked at him surprised before smiling himself, he really did, didn't he? "It's just not something I'm sure I can ever really be okay with. You guys mean too much to me, but I can try and I can try to forgive myself too. I'll take it back a notch, okay? We really do need to get more control of our magic, but I don't want to hurt myself to do it." Only cause it would hurt you guys, he added silently. But it looked like Dewey got that part anyway. 

And it wasn't that he hated himself, or thought he was unimportant, it was just that pretty much everything he did was for his brothers and he had more than accepted it by this point. It was just how the three of them worked. It wasn't that they didn't care about themselves, they just cared about each other more. And if one of them wanted him to do something then he would do it, no matter what it took. 

This was not how Louie was expecting this to go, being used as a piñata for a psycho rich kid, but what was he really expecting, honestly? For everything to go just fine? He wasn't stupid, he knew this would end with his life in danger, though he severely underestimated how much. And now, all he wanted to do was go home. Or for someone to save him but it didn't look like that was happening so he had to save himself. Oh, how he wished he was good at that. His family in danger, he could think of something, his brothers, he could save them in a blink of an eye, himself? No such luck, he never really had to do it, but he did now. 

Or Goldie could sacrifice herself for him, that could happen too. 

As soon as Doofus let him go he was out of there, sucked for her, but that was what happened when you got too close. Although thinking that... could he just _leave_ her there? Was he that cold? No, he really wasn't. He was raised better than that, and to leave just because he was afraid was a disservice to it. Ugh, why did he have to care so much? Things were easier for people who didn't, but that wasn't him. Sometimes he wished it was. 

He grumbled under his breath as he made his way back to the mansion, he needed a plan- and fast. No one was getting left behind today. But what could he do? How could he free her from Doofus's grasp? Wait, wasn't that Doofus's phone? He got out of it out of the bag he saw it in and smiled to himself, now he had a plan to free her, and give Doofus's parents a child they deserved. 

"Party's over, Doofus! Give me back my Aunt!" He shouted as he got in front of the cage she was in- wait, cage? This kid was seriously messed up, he thought with an invisible shudder. Yeah, he definitely couldn't leave Goldie with him. Even if this was the most scared he'd been in a while. Well, at least it wasn't cause of Magica. Hey, he thought her name! Right, focus. Creepy rich kid, con-artist/business partner that was going to betray him in some way by the end of this for sure. He had this. 

"-And that's what we've been up to the last ten years." Mickey said wrapping up his story about his and Minnie's adventures. As he had been talking Donald had felt more and more relaxed, the eight of them had fitted back together like no time has passed at all, why had he been expecting anything different? It was true there was a big elephant in the room, but it was more of them waiting for Della to bring it up than anything else. 

"Wow, you guys have all been busy!" He remarked; Mickey and Minne had been traveling, Daisy had her fashion line, Goofy had his bookstore, it seemed like even Panchito and Jose had been doing more exciting things lately. Where did that leave him? Kids, while being the light of his life, were admittedly not that exciting, and they were all he really had to show for. Don't get him wrong, he loved them and loved raising them but his life was kind of, dull compared to his friends. Maybe that was why he had really been putting this off. 

"So have you no doubt! Three kids, and triplets nonetheless, they must've kept your hands full." Goofy hyucked. "Where are they anyway? Thought we would've seen at least one of them by now." 

"Huey and Dewey are outside and Louie is out with a, friend." He supplied for lack of better word. Della looked at him surprised, she didn't know he was out. What kind of a parental figure was she? "And Webby and Lena, these two kids I've practically adopted by now, are with Mrs. Beakley. But I'm sure they'll be around more next time you come over, if there is gonna be a next time?" He said unsurely. 

"Of course there's gonna be a next time! We missed you guys." Daisy said, lightly hitting him like she couldn't believe he asked that. Fair enough he supposed. "Besides, we wanna meet these kids of yours." Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy nodded in agreement and Donald smiled but couldn't help but notice how quiet his sister had gotten. As did the others. "I mean..." 

Della waved her off, "No, I got what you meant, Dais, it's okay. They're not my kids, they haven't been my kids since I chose to leave." She sighed, "I guess I'm still learning to be okay with that." The room fell silent after that until she broke it up, "But enough of that stuff! Goofy, what have you been up to?" He looked at her for a few seconds before hesitantly jumping into a story. As he talked Donald watched his sister, she really didn't look too good, and he didn't think it was cause she was getting overwhelmed. Something else was going on here, and he needed to find out what. 

He did it, Louie actually pulled it off! Man, did it feel good to scheme successfully! Now all he had to do was get his half of the bags and- where was Goldie? Where were the bags?!?! 

Yerp, there was the betrayal. He wished it didn't hurt as much as it did. 

Well, there was nothing for him to do but go home and seek out his Dad's comfort. And that was exactly what he did, only he didn't find his Dad- he found his Uncle Scrooge. That was probably better, if anyone understood what it was like being betrayed by Goldie O' Gilt it was him. His Uncle gave him a sympathetic look as soon as he saw him and patted for him to sit next to him on the stairs. He did so with a sigh, he was really tired of getting hurt. 

"I expected this to happen, why does it hurt so much?" 

Scrooge wrapped an arm around him, "That's Goldie fer yew." He said fondly. "Did ye get what yew needed ootta this?" Did he? The only thing he really learned was that no matter how much you bonded with some people they didn't change. Well, he didn't want to be like that. Wait. 

"I don't want to be like her, I don't want to do business like her. But your way just isn't for me." 

"Then do it yer own way." Louie looked at him. "Yer ane o' the sharpest people ae know, if anyane can figure it oot it's yew. Ae think ae heard Huey and Dewey in the backyard." He added on knowing his nephew needed comfort he couldn't provide. Louie smiled at him gratefully then took off, he really needed to see them right now, if nothing more than to find out what happened with them earlier. 

Once he got to the backyard and saw them he immediately lit up, they were working on their magic so they probably didn't hear him but he couldn't help but pull them into a hug. Luckily they knew him well enough to know who he was. "So how it go?" Dewey asked casually as he sunk into their embrace. He let out a noise. "That bad, huh? Dewey you wanna talk about it?" 

"For the first time in my life it felt like there was someone who actually got me. I dunno," He shrugged, "It's different with her." 

Huey and Dewey looked at each other, "Different how?"

"She just gets me in a way that you guys don't."

"What way could that be?" And Louie found he didn't really have an answer, these were his brothers, everything was different with them. But with her... it was also different, but in another way. But he didn't know what one, and then there was the fact that she betrayed him. If he felt a bond with someone like that what did it say about him? Nothing, not unless he let it. "It's okay," Huey added on when he didn't answer. "If it is different with her. I just wish she didn't hurt you so badly, I know how tired you are of that." Gah, they really got him, maybe that was all that mattered. He could figure the other stuff out later, right now all that was important was that he was back at their side. 

It really made everything better. 


	18. A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sleepover is occurring and so is something else…

Donald needed to talk to his sister, he had known that since their friends -including Jose and Panchito- had left. It had been three days since then. He didn't know why he was putting it off but he did know he couldn't continue to. So while the kids were having a sleepover he decided to take the opportunity to check on her. She was in her room, lately it seemed like that was where she spent most of her time, more evidence he needed to talk to her. Ever since she got back she spent every second she could with someone in the mansion, it wasn't like her to seek solitude. It meant something was seriously wrong. 

"Della?" He asked, knocking on her door. "Can I come in?" 

"Sure!" She replied in a chirper voice, he could see through it though. It only made him want to come in more. And sure, his feelings towards her were still complicated at best, but she was his sister, if something was wrong he wanted to help her fix it. "What's up?" She said as soon as he came in. 

"I think the better question is what's up with you?" She looked at him confused. "Della, you've been acting off ever since our friends came to visit, you haven't left this room in days! I may not know you as well as I used to but I still know something's wrong. Talk to me." She sighed and patted the spot next to her on her bed; he immediately sat down and looked at her worriedly. 

She gave him a tense smile, "I'm not the boys' parent, I've accepted that, and they're clearly your boys, sometimes it's just hard to believe that I've missed it all. Ten years of birthdays and holidays, of school plays and junior woodchuck gatherings, of them fighting and getting sick. It just jumps out at me sometimes. It's so hard to wrap my head around that, and believe me I've been trying! I've missed so much, and I'm only missing more staying in here but I can't seem to make myself leave. I don't wanna miss anything else." She quietly said. 

Donald looked at her sympathetically, "I know you don't, Della, I don't know how to help you here." He admitted forlornly. 

"Just stay with me." That, he could do. 

The boys and Lena were messing around up in Webby's room when she came in with the last member of their little group. Violet Sabrewing, a girl she had met at the library a few weeks ago when she was looking for information to get Lena back, back before she had the idea to ask her brothers and Uncle for help. The others had met her once or twice before and had liked her well enough, well, Lena didn't at first but she had come around by now. So Webby thought it was a good idea to invite her. "Yay, everyone's here, sleepover can start!" The others let out cheers, some more enthusiastic than others, and they all got set up. This was something the five of them honestly needed, after everything that has happened to them they deserved to do something fun. Brought to their attention courteous of Louie of course. 

But it had really been Lena's idea, for two reasons actually. "Oh, happy friend-iversary, If I didn't have you, it'd be worse for me. I'm made of shadow, you're made of flesh, Whoever thought that we would mesh." She sang to Webby as she held out a cake and smiled as she unsuccessfully tried to hold back tears. Of course she was gonna remember and celebrate a day like today, Webby meant too much to her for her not to. But the other reason was less nice. 

The truth was she had been having nightmares for about a week now and had started seeing some unsettling images in the mirror, she needed to do something to distract herself. There would be no sleep tonight if she had anything to say about it. 

She didn't have anything to say about it. 

She tried and tried, but eventually everyone fell asleep and she had no choice but to sleep herself. Hopefully Webby was right and she would get a super good night's sleep surrounded by her friends. But as soon as she fell asleep as well something weird happened, she felt her head resting on something grainy instead of the hard floor it had been on before and opened her eyes. Something was wrong, why were the six of them on some island? What did she do? Her magic could be the only culprit for this, the triplets had magic too but their's wasn't out of control like hers was. No, this was definitely her. Hopefully she could get them out of here before the others woke up. 

No such luck, the others woke up and weird things started happening: a burger came out of a coconut, Louie's phone turned into a banana, and a talking horse told Webby she was the chosen one. Nooo, this was a dream wasn't it? 

"Or we're in a lucid shared dream state manifested by your magic." Everyone looked at Violet confused. "Oh, like her thing made anymore sense?" She sighed and put her hands together, "Observe." She held out a hand and made a purple flower appear in it; it grew legs and walked away. "Extreme sleep deprivation could upset your magical aura. Have you have been having bad dreams?" 

The triplets shared a look, "How do we know it was Lena for sure? We have magic too and we've certainly had our fair share of bad dreams these past few weeks." Huey's brothers nodded vigorously. "It could've been any of us realistically." 

Lena sighed, "Thanks, Huey, but I think this was really me. I have been having bad dreams, all week. I thought a slumber-party would help me stay up, not pull you into my freaky shadow problems, again." She said as she sat down in the sand, wrapping her legs around her arms. The others looked at her sympathetically, one a lot more than the others. Louie knew what her nightmares were about, he knew it too well. 

Everyone agreed that the best course of action was to stay in the dream and decided to embrace it, when Lena tried she grew bat wings instead of butterfly like the rest of them. She thought it would be best to walk. But as she went into a cave the scenery became more creepy, looking like a forest out of a scary movie- sounds and everything. She tried her best to stay calm but then one of the trees turned into a hand and couldn't anymore. Then suddenly something even more unexpected happened, Louie crashed next to her. 

Everything was going fine for him, the dream was really fun and Louie got to be there with his siblings and friends, and he got to fly instead of walk, lucid dreams were the best! But all of a sudden he wasn't in the clear blue sky anymore and instead was crashing into a creepy forest. Where Lena was, huh, he had wondered where she went. "Where are we?!" He frantically asked as soon as he got up. 

"Not now!" She pointed at the hand that was making its way towards them and he started running alongside her just as the ground cracked up in front of them. They tried to stop but were unable to and fell down the hole screaming only to end up in a nice forest instead. Just in time for the others to gracefully land around them as they laughed and cheered. Dewey then noticed a school and realized who's dream it was, walking into the building with a new set of clothes. 

Lena and Louie shared a look as they followed behind him, something was wrong here. 

* * *

This was the best dream of his life! Dewey thought as he walked into the school. He was living out his most favorite dream and was doing it with his siblings and friends! Nothing could be better! 

He started showing the others around the school, pointing out different things to them, only stopping when they got to him cradling a moon. This always made him feel weird for some reason. "This is in all my dreams. I'm like cradled by a moon made of my own tears, who knows what that's about?" 

His brothers looked at him worriedly, "Dewey, you okay, dude?" He gave them two thumbs up, 

"I don't know!" He said cheerfully. They continued to look at him so he glanced away and noticed his mascot, quickly getting excited about that. They didn't have anything to be worried about, that probably didn't mean anything. 

As they walked by the mascot Louie got a weird feeling about it and turned back, as did Lena. Uh-oh, that wasn't good. The mascot creepily turned its head towards them and outstretched a hand and they ran away from it. But as they turned the corner there it was. Somehow even more creepy. They ran again and the lights went out around them, they gasped a fear then noticed the mascot glitching around the walls a few feet in front of them. It continued to do this for a few more seconds then slowly walked towards them. Louie grabbed Lena in fright and tried to run but she was frozen still; he kept pulling even after it stopped then froze as well as Magica Despell revealed herself from under it. 

Oh phooey.

"Miss me?" She said menacingly as she made her way to them, arm outstretched. They started moving backward until Lena noticed a lever on the wall and pulled it, making some sort of liquid come out of the sprinkles which made Magica melt. The two of them held their hands out in the liquid and tasted it. 

"Yup, that's Pep. Classic Dewey." Louie said, then noticed the others were making their way over to them, some looking more annoyed than others. 

"Aw, why did you guys do that?!" 

Lena held up her hands, "It was an accident!" 

"Yeah," Louie said slightly out of breath, "Accident." His brothers turned to him and Huey raised an eyebrow. "Don't worry about it, just thought I saw something." He glanced down the hallway to see it empty and mentally sighed in relief.

Huey and Dewey's faces softened and Dewey rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Oh, well, don't worry about it then." He said softly. Dewey knew what Louie thought he saw, all three of them knew what Loue thought he saw. 

The five of them went into the next dream with Louie scrunched in between his brothers. Had he actually saw her, or was it just his and Lena's nightmares combining? Neither one was good, but one was definitely preferable. He looked over to see how Lena was doing and saw her looking over her shoulder. They met eyes and he raised an eyebrow at her, asking, 'Was that really her?'. 'I don't know', she seemed to answer back. Well, that wasn't good. If Magica was really around then it meant the others were in danger as well, and he couldn't have that. Especially with how eager his brothers were to protect him. 

The twins were silent for a while as neither of them had anything else to say. Eventually there was another knock on the door and Scrooge was poking his head in. "Everythin' alright, yew two?" 

"No." They both responded. Scrooge took that as a sign to come in and sat in between them; they leaned their heads on his shoulder. And despite everything Scrooge found himself enjoying it, he had really missed this. Missed them. He was so glad they were both back under his roof, he just wished there wasn't so much wrong right now. But, he would be there for them, for all of them. It was the least he could do. 

"Uncle Scrooge, how did you get used to the fact that you missed a lot of the boys' life?" Della asked him quietly. 

He sighed, "Ae just did ae guess. Focusin' on the future and all that. Ae had to learn the hard way that ye cannae focus on the past, that's it already happened and there's nothin' yew can do aboot it. Yer here now, niece, that's what matters. Ye can be here fer them now." 

"Yeah, I just have to learn to be okay with that. Thanks, Uncle Scrooge."

Huh, can't focus on the past, maybe there were multiple ways to apply that. Donald didn't want to focus on the past, he didn't want to be mad at his sister forever. He didn't want to hurt forever. Maybe it was time for him to let go of it. He did it with Scrooge, he could do it with her too. Besides, what kind of message would he be sending to the kids if he held onto things for too long? Not a good one, that was for sure. 

The next dream was Huey's dream and the others found it, weird, to say the least. "Why, Huey, why, why, Huey, whyyyyy?" Dewey exclaimed as he noticed his brother's freakishly long legs. 

"And I thought you had problems." Louie muttered to him; Dewey let out a noise of agreement. 

Huey ignored them as he walked towards a shelf, they didn't know what they were talking about, this was perfectly normal dream behavior. He was just an oldest sibling doing oldest sibling things, with really long legs. He wasn't good at imagining stuff, okay?! And apparently he wasn't good at having long limbs either cause they quickly spiraled out of control, freaking him and everyone else out. Luckily, Dewey took control of the situation and threw them into a montage. Which was actually pretty fun. 

Well, for most of them. 

The next dream was Violet's dream and Lena got bored of it pretty quickly and walked away from the group, Louie followed after her. He probably had the same question she did, were they actually seeing Magica? She couldn't know for sure, magic was weird, and theirs combined in a time like this was nothing good. So it could just be their minds playing tricks on them, or it could be something a lot worse... 

"Do you think the others know something's going on?" She asked him curiously. 

He looked back to where they were and zeroed in on two figures, "They know something's wrong- they're my brothers, of course they know something's wrong." They're just great pretending nothing is to make him feel better. In fact, they're so great they probably don't realize they're doing it half the time. He's not sure how to feel about that. 

She turned to him nervously, "So like, what do you think this is? Just a dream, or is she really here? My mind's fucked up right now I'm so tired, I've had nightmares for weeks."

“Ugh, I know. I’ve had to put a charm on myself just to get a decent night’s sleep, well decent for me I guess.” That didn't make her feel better. And the fact that he didn't answer her question made her feel worse, he was the one that knew things, if he didn't know... Well, she wasn't sure what the meant, but it was nothing good. Lena then touched one of the shelves of the bookcases needing grounding and gasped as half of the aisle they were in turned dark. Then Magica flickered in the doorway at the end of it and Lena decided she had had enough of this, she had to wake herself up. 

She hit her face a couple of times then watched in horror as her hands started turning green. "Lena..." Louie shakily said beside her and she tried to make it go away but it kept spreading. The thing she feared most was finally happening. She was turning into Magica Despell.

She started freaking out and forced her sleeves to cover her green hands, if she couldn't see it it wasn't happening. "Lena, you have to calm down." 

"I'm trying, but I can't!" 

"It's okay."

"No, it's not! I'm turning into Magica, I can't be her I can't!" And with that something horrifying happened. Her sweater opened up and swallowed her whole as Louie watched, terrified and helpless. 

* * *

"GUYS!" He screamed, at a loss for what to do, the others were next to him in seconds. 

"What happened? Where's Lena?" Webby asked and he weakly pointed at the sweater hole in the ground. "I'm going in after her!" Webby said determinedly then jumped into the hole. Louie was quick to follow suit followed by the others. They fell down the scary hole landing in a place that wasn't much better. "Is this, Lena's dream?" She asked horrified as she took it all in. Poor Lena, if this was her dream... 

"I think this is more nightmare." Huey pointed out. 

"Whatever it is, I don't like this place." Louie said and his brothers were quick to agree with him, something was off about it, and not just cause it was the creepiest place they had ever seen. Lena's magic was really being affected right now, and it was something they could all feel. They had to get out of there, but to do that they had to find her. So the three of them shared a look, then another one with Webby and Violet, and the five of them made their way into the castle. Louie's brothers could feel how scared he was and grabbed his hands, giving him a meaningful look. He would be okay, they wouldn't let anything happen to him. Louie just hoped nothing would happen to them because of it. 

Lena let out a tiny noise as she looked at herself in the mirror- she was completely green, her eyes had a yellow tint to them, and she had a black streak in her hair. None of that was good. "About time you woke up." A voice said to the right of her. She looked to see it was Magica who waved a hand at her mockingly. "I mean not actually woke up because you're trapped in a nightmare realm of my own devising so..." 

"Noooo, I was free! You lost your powers, what did you do to me!?" It turned out she was really here after all, which meant they really were all in danger. She had to find a way to get them all out of here, she wouldn't let her friends get hurt because of her again. 

Magica looked at her offendedly. "Me? This was all you. Did you think you'd turn out _different_ than me?" Lena put her hands over her ears, willing her voice to go away, or Lena herself to go away. Anything to make her stop talking. "I'm trying to save you, you came from me, evil is in your- whatever shadows have instead of blood." Magica walked down the steps and towards her. "Don't you ever feel like there's something, off, about you?"

Lena turned away from her, "It's just a dream." Magica stepped next to her. 

"Yes but it is really me, we're psychically linked because you, me same, evil, etcetera." Just then pounding started on the door and her friends' voices rang out. They were here, for her? They were the best. And just like that she grew more confident. "Those dopes are here to stop you like they always try to stop me. Because we're _monsters,_ Lena." But Lena knew better, she wasn't a monster, Scrooge McDuck would never let a monster stay in his house. Bentina Beakley would never make sure a monster felt safe and happy. Donald Duck wouldn't let a monster near his kids and wouldn't treat it one of his own. 

Webby Vanderquack would never be friends with a monster. 

Magica looked at her smugly and disappeared into her orb. Lena clutched her chest and almost fell down in pain, she felt something overtake her and looked in the mirror in horror. "No." She gapsed, in Magica Despell's voice. 

Just then the doors opened and the others came marching in, stumbling upon Magica and no Lena in sight. Though Louie thought something was _off_ about Magica, maybe it was just the fact that he was seeing her again and he never wanted that to happen. He fought everything inside of him telling him to run away and stood his ground, Lena needed his help, and he needed to be able to confront Magica. Even if it was the hardest thing he would ever have to do. 

"No, I'm not a mooonssteerr!" 'Magica' said as she slowly transformed into a monster. "Webby, help!" She screamed as fire shoot out of her mouth. Wait, why would Magica want Webby's help? It could be a trick, but she sounded so sincere... Louie widened his eyes in realization, that wasn't Magica. And his sister was seconds away from attacking her. 

“Webby, no! That’s not Magica!” 

Webby gasped as she also realized, “Lena?” The others shared Webby's gasp and Lena looked at the two of them with relief in her eyes, which grew tired as she lent against the mirror. "I'm sorry, I didn't see, of course it's you. Is this, what's been bothering you? That you might become Magica?" 

"I'm just, so tired of fighting it." Lena said in her own voice. "I am her." 

Webby and Louie shared a look and Webby placed a hand on her, "No, you're not. We were trying to destroy you and you just took it! You didn't fight back or anything!" 

"Of course I didn't, you guys are my friends, I would never hurt you. She would." Lena said glaring at her reflection in the mirror and shrunk back when it started to berate her. Why, why did she get so scared because of her? 

Louie glared at it when he noticed, it was bad enough she made him feel so small, she didn't get to do that to Lena too. "You're not her, you're you! You put so much pressure on yourself to be good, but you're good enough. She doesn't get to make either of us feel small anymore." He determinedly said as he grabbed her hand. Lena smiled at him, then at Webby, and grabbed his hand back. He was right, enough was enough. Magica didn't get to control her life anymore. 

"Give me back my powers, you ungrateful brat!" Lena gasped as Magica grabbed her hand and tried pulling her into the mirror. Louie quickly pulled the other way and Webby joined him not even a second later. The two of them became engulfed in a light blue light and the others raced to them and started to pull as well, becoming bathed in the light as soon as they joined hands. The tug-of-war continued for a few seconds as Magica slowly became more desperate, and it looked like she was about to win before Webby teared up and one of the tears hit Lena's lip, engulfing her in the blue light and giving her the extra boost she needed to seal the mirror and get Magica out of her head. 

They all woke up. 

"I'm awake! I'm me again! We did it!" Lena said happily with a grin. 

"Well," Violet said, shortly. "This was a fun way to introduce me to the group." And fun really wasn't the word Lena would use, but she was too happy right now to care. Until she saw the flying satellite outside of Webby's window. The two of them shared a look and they all went to chase after it. 

They followed it to the gates of the mansion and watched as it flew into the forest and to a menacing shadow with glowing red eyes. "Magica." Lena gasped shocked. "You really have been creeping in my dreams all week." Louie looked at the shadow with unreadable eyes and his brothers gently got in front of him. Magica started rambling on and Louie felt his flight reflexes go into overdrive, it was one thing to see her in a dream but in the real world... He wasn't sure he could do it, he was still too scared. Even as she came out of the shadows and becoming less menacing. Like, a lot less. 

"You really don't have any powers left." Lena realized. "I don't need you, _you_ need _me_. You are no longer allowed in my head." She clenched her fist and made the helmet on Magica's head break; she then let out heavy breaths before smiling. Magica slammed into the gates and reached a hand through them, making everyone but Lena flinched back. Huey and Dewey readied their hands, they said that if they got to her first they'd hate to be her and they were more than willing to fulfill that promise. 

"That's fine, there's more than one way to get power." Magica taunted, clearly aiming to get under the triplets' skin. It worked more than they cared to show.

"What are you doing here?!" A voice quacked from behind them, the kids turned to see Scrooge, Della, and Donald there standing angrily. "Get away from my kids!" Donald shouted, sending a wave of Magica at her. She quickly ran off and Donald bent down to check on the kids, physically they seemed to be fine. Mentally... 

His Uncle demanded to know what happened and the kids took turns explaining as they made their way back to the house. Donald thoroughly glance them over with his eyes as they went, Lena seemed to be happy- which was good and Huey and Dewey seemed to be extraordinarily mad- which was not as good. Not that he could blame them at all. The one who was worrying him the most though was Louie. He was clinging to his brothers like they were his only lifelines, Donald hadn't seen him like that since, well since Magica possessed him. It made him fear the worst, a relapse. 

The only consolation was that Magica didn't have her magic anymore, she couldn't hurt him if she wanted to. But this encounter only made him more sure they needed to do something to get rid of her. She would only continue to make things worse if they didn't. 

"Does this mean you're using your magic again?" Webby whispered to Lena as they walked back to the mansion. And Lena had to admit, that had felt _good_ , she faced Magica and came out on top, she didn't think that would ever be possible. It was her magic, and her's alone, that was something she understood now. The truth was the only thing that had been holding her back was Magica, but Magica was powerless, she didn't have to be afraid anymore. She could let herself heal. 

"Yeah, I am." 


	19. Making Progress is Easier with Other People as Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scrooge takes the kids on adventure and Della and the boys talk.

"So, how do you kids feel aboot goin' on an adventure?" Scrooge asked the kids the next day; Lena opted out immediately. The others looked at each other then back at Scrooge, silently asking for details. "Ae have ta go give a speech at Fort Duckburg ta commemorate Cornelius Coot. Ae've already cleared it with Donald and Mrs. Beakley- so it's up ta yew four." Huh, that seemed easy enough, like the best getting-back-into-adventuring adventure, the only question was were they ready for it? They looked at each other again and nodded, they were. 

Their Uncle clapped his hands together, "Wonderful! Della will also be joining us a little while later, she's been asked ta do some sky writin'." Oh, she was coming along... the boys figured she would start going on adventures with them sometimes, just like their Dad did, they just didn't think it'd be this soon. 

"Is it just gonna be the six of us?" Huey asked curiously and Scrooge nodded. 

"Donald has some things ta take care o' here so he cannae come along but dinnae let that stop ye from havin' some fun, there'll be other adventures." Yeah that wasn't what they were worried about. 

It was true he had stepped back from the whole Della-trying-to-be-in-their-lives situation, but if he had gone he could've been a buffer of sorts. Now they were gonna be around Della and they really didn't know how to do that. At least it wouldn't be for the whole adventure. Maybe it would even be a good thing, doing this with her. They _were_ trying to move on after all, they couldn't do that with just them, she had to be involved too. Even if she was still confusing to them. 

As soon as his Uncle told him Gyro and Fenton were able to help them Donald got to planning. They had waited too long, they couldn't do it any longer. While Scrooge and Della were with the kids celebrating Cornelius he would finally find a way to get Magica out of Duckburg. And when they all got back the three of them would do it. So after the kids and Scrooge told him goodbye and left he got out his phone. And while he was upset he wasn't going on the kids' first adventure since, everything, he knew this was more important and that there would be more, bigger adventures. Plus, this would be good for them and Della, he knew it would be. 

After spending a few minutes catching up with them he got to what the call was about. "Have you guys found something to help deal with Magica?" He asked, trying not to sound too impatient. 

"No," Fenton said regretfully. "But we made something!" He added on much cheerier and Donald found himself perking up. "It's still a prototype so there are some kinks that need to be worked out, but it looks promising. Essentially it's like an anti-prison, instead of keeping something in it keeps it out, and as soon as we're done with it it should be permanently. The only real trouble would be finding a way to set it up to where it can't be tampered with, but, that's one of the kinks!" An anti-prison, that did sound promising. 

"When can you have it done?" There was a silence on the other line. 

"Few days at least, two weeks at most." Gyro shortly replied and Donald bit back a groan, two weeks? That might be too long. It was clear Magica wanted her magic back but there was no way Lena was gonna give it to her, she couldn't even if she wanted to- he had made sure of that. Which means she might go to other means to get _any_ kind of magic- she was that desperate. And that didn't mean anything good for his kids. 

And _that_ made his mind up for him. "What can I do to help?"

The drive to Fort Duckberg was short but something to be sure, let's just say there was a reason their Uncle had Launchpad drive him everywhere. But he was busy with repairs on the Sunchaser so he couldn't do it, which meant Scrooge had to. They split off from him as soon they got to the fort and went to the Cornelius Coot statue; they looked over it with awe and listened as Quackfaster told them all about him. Their family sure was cool. But this place, was not. They thought a place named Fort something would be a lot more fun. Well, it was an easy adventure for a reason. 

"Not much of an adventure." Dewey said, voicing all of their thoughts. "Maybe we can ride with Della?" He suggested unsurely- he didn't know if they were ready for that yet. And it looked like his brothers agreed. 

That was when Webby suggested something else, and actual adventure. Two of out three of the triplets expressed excitement but Louie was beginning to wonder if this had been a good idea. He was really only here cause his brothers were. Seeing Magica again had set him back, and he wasn't sure if he was as ready to move on anymore. If she was still having this effect on him... then that meant he was still dealing with it. How could he move on if he was still dealing with it? 

His brothers were so he had to find a way to too. They always did everything together, he wasn't stopping that now. Or being the reason their progress stopped, he didn't want to hold them back. "Alright, let's do it." He said and that was the push they needed to be all in, they had been waiting for him, they were _always_ waiting for him lately. He had to start doing stuff for them too, they had done so much for him these past few weeks. It was the least they deserved. And he wanted to give them everything they deserved. 

By the time Donald had gotten to the money bin and to the research and development part it was already lunchtime so he decided to conjure up some food for all of them. And that was when an alarm went off. He held onto the food as he let out a frightened quack and violently flinched when Fenton and Gyro came rushing out into the hall with weapons. "It's me, it's just me!" He shrieked. They relaxed and Gyro hit a button that made the alarm stop. 

"Sorry, we set that up after we heard Magica was in Duckburg." Fenton explained and Donald nodded, that made perfect sense. 

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and held up the food, "Lunch?" 

* * *

As they ate Fenton and Gyro further explained the anti-prison to him, and the more he learned about it the more promising it became. The way it would eventually work was that it would pick up on Magica's energy and not let it through the invisible barrier it would create. It was foolproof, it wasn't like you could get rid of your energy- it was a part of you, no matter what you did. The only thing was something like that to a while to perfect, with or without his help, and that it could potentially be taken down if it wasn't set up correctly. Which meant they all had their work cut out for them. 

But they would figure it out, Donald knew they would. His friends were some of the most scientifically gifted people he knew and he himself was exceptional when it came to magic. With the three of them working together they could do anything that required both fields. And once it was done he, Della, and Scrooge would set it up, and they would make sure _nothing_ could mess with it. 

This was becoming a steadily less easy adventure, Huey decided as they made their way through the cavern. At least his siblings were having fun. That was the most important part to him, after everything that had happened they deserved to have a good time. He made sure to keep a close eye on Louie though, he was pretty sure he only agreed to come along so his brother would go. And normally that would be fine, but right now was far from normal. Seeing Magica like that couldn't have been easy for him -it wasn't easy for Huey- and he wasn't talking about it. Maybe he really was fine but there was also a good chance he wasn't. And then there was Dewey, who was trying to act more cheerful than he actually felt to make them feel better. He had been doing it since the whole shared dream fiasco. So Huey would be keeping an eye on him as well. And he was sure the two of them would be doing it to him too. When something was wrong with one of them something was wrong with all of them. 

He was cut out of his thoughts by Dewey saying his name, "No, I'm not." He said in response. That was when he noticed something unsettling. "Dewey..." And _that_ was when he felt something on him.

The kids let out screams and Huey quickly shot a blast of light from his hands to make the spiders get away from them. "Everyone okay?" 

"No more scarred than usual." Louie shakily replied. Maybe it was time for them to call it. But instead of turning back Webby trudged forward and the triplets looked at each other. "Hey, is it me, or does she seem a little more 'Webby' than usual?" Louie asked and his brothers agreed, but then Webby showed them a mine chart and Dewey got distracted. Then turned back to his brothers and got less distracted. They weren't having fun anymore, and honestly neither was he. He just wanted to go home. 

"On second thought I think I might wanna call it, Webs. This is too much for us right now." And he could tell that the fact that it was him saying it made her pause but then she jumped into the minecart and they were forced to go after her. "Not cool." He told her. 

She brushed him off, "Oh come on, don't you wanna solve the mystery?" 

"Wrong brother. And I'm pretty sure Huey's ready to call it too." She was about to say something in response when the cart started moving. The kids screamed again as it took off, never noticing they were being followed by a strange figure... 

They were getting nowhere with this, Donald quickly realized. There was some sort of roadblock, and since it was scientifically he couldn't figure out what. But it looked like his friends didn't have any idea either. "So what's the problem exactly?" He asked, knowing them saying it could help them come up with a solution. That always worked for him anyway. 

Gyro sighed, frustrated. "We can't figure out how to calibrate it to only her energy. It keeps getting set to every magical energy, and that's not ideal." That was an understatement. "I don't know how we can make it so it differentiates the two." Huh, that was a problem, but every magician's energy was different so there had to be a way for it to only pick up on her energy. There had to be a way to single out her energy. Like giving it a focal point or something. Wait... 

"What if you gave it a focal point?" The two of them looked at him with interest. "Okay, so it wants to keep seeing every magical energy, so why don't you let it and make it so it only focuses on hers?" 

"So you're saying instead of setting it to only see her energy we set it where it filters out every other energy and fixates on hers?" Fenton asked and Donald nodded. "That could actually work! And if there's ever any other magical users we need to keep out of this town we can adjust this instead of making a new one!" Donald didn't even think of that! That would save so much time in the future! Cause let's face it, this was Duckburg, they were gonna need to keep other people out eventually. He looked at Gyro to see what he thought and saw him deep in thought. That was promising. 

"Theoretically it could work. We would have to do some backtracking, but it seems to be the best option. Which means this'll take a little longer than we first guessed." He added on, turning away from Donald. 

Great, they had to wait even _longer_. It was a small price to pay to never have to deal with Magica ever again. The adults would just have to keep a close eye on the kids until it was done. And it wasn't that Donald didn't think they could handle themselves -they had very much proved the opposite by now- it was just that this was Magica Despell and she was a big source of trauma for them. She better hoped they didn't run into her again, he couldn't be held responsible for what he did if they did. 

"'Cornelius Coot Arms.' This is it, the Golden Armory." The triplets shared a look, Webby was going too far with this. Something was clearly wrong but since they didn't know what they didn't know how to talk to her about it. She noticed the three of them just standing there and made a motioning gesture, "Come on, guys, don't you wanna see this?!" They didn't, but they didn't think she would listen. So they shared another look and agreed to just go along with it. If things got too hectic they could just use their magic. They had to build it back up anyway. 

They followed Webby into the armory and quickly discovered that the so-called 'treasure' was really corn. "All of that, and it's just corn?! Okay, that's it, I'm turning back!" Louie said, starting to walk out of the armory. His brothers watched him then turned to Webby, she looked like she was trying to rationalize it being corn but as far as they were concerned this adventure was a bust. And they just didn't have the energy to deal with something like that right now. 

"Webby, face it, it's just corn. There's no mystery and there's no treasure, it's just a bunch of corn. Let's head back now." Huey told her, and yeah, he was being a bit mean but they had been wanting to turn back for a while now and she had been refusing to listen, he felt it was in his right to be a bit mean. He and Dewey followed after their brother and could hear her behind them trying to convince them all to stay. But enough was enough, they were leaving, or they were until the path was blocked. 

Why was Ma Beagle here? 

She started going on about how 'horrible' their family was and they fought the urge to roll their eyes. She _really_ couldn't talk. They figured she was there for the treasure so Louie told her what it was despite Webby's protests, hoping that would get them out of there. No such luck. But before she and the other beagles could attack them a plane that they quickly recognized as the Sunchasher crashed into the cavern and distracted all of them. Della quickly lept out of it and surveyed the situation before attacking the beagles as they watched on in awe. Though one of them made a quiet exit without them realizing it. But Della realized once she was done and went after her while telling the boys to stay put. 

"We're never getting out of here!" Dewey groaned then quickly noticed the beagles getting up and got in an offensive position. If they wanted a fight he would give them one. He felt his brothers come up behind him and smiled, _they_ would give them one. 

It was surprisingly easy to take them down, once they scared the spiders away Bigtime was no longer a threat and the others were nowhere near capable enough to fight magic successfully. "So now what?" Huey asked after they magical tied them up, his brothers shrugged so they just decided to wait for Della and Webby. Hopefully Della would figure out what was up with her and help her out. If she couldn't the three of them would have to think of something. Webby was their sister, they hated when something was wrong with her and if they were in a better headspace they would be more understanding, but the fact was that this adventure had been too much for them right now. 

All they wanted to do was go home and relax. They weren't ready for adventuring yet, not when all of them turned out like this. 

* * *

After Della had had that talk with Donald she decided she needed to reach out to the boys. A talk between the four of them was long overdue, so that was why after they got back to camp and she made sure Webby was okay she went to find them. It took her a few minutes as the fort was pretty big but once she did she was relieved to see them all together, that made this a lot easier. She walked over to them and offered an awkward handwave, "Can we talk?" 

The boys were sitting around camp, trying to get their energy back when the topic of her came up. Della Duck, their... to be determined. "So it was pretty cool how Della saved us like that." Huey started out and his brothers shrugged. "I'm just saying, it seems like she's really trying to be a part of our lives." 

Louie sighed, "It doesn't matter, she's still the reason she wasn't for ten years, no amount of trying changes that. And it doesn't change how I, we, feel either... I can't forgive her, and I can't just move past those feelings like I never had them. I don't know what to do." He admitted. How were they supposed to accept her like she didn't mess them up in ways they should've never been messed up? 

"There a the third option, letting it go," Huey winked at him, "People always forget about that one. It isn't good to hold onto that stuff, it only hurts you in the end. I know it'll be hard, but we've done the other hard stuff, so why not this?" His brothers looked at him and he gave them a reassuring smile, he knew the three of them could do this, as long as they did it together. And that was when Della walked up to them. 

They glanced at each other, "Sure." She sat down next to them and the air fell silent as they waited for her to start. 

"It's safe to say things between us are awkward at best and I don't want that, all I want is to be apart of your guys' lives. I'm not asking to be your mom, I know I don't deserve that, and that name probably doesn't mean anything to you and I don't blame you for that. I just want to be apart of your lives, I want you to want me to be apart of your lives." She added on then continued. "I know how badly I messed up and I know there's nothing I can do to fix it, I just want us all to move past this and be a family." 

"We want that too." Dewey let her know, cause they did. "It's just gonna be, hard, letting those emotions go, especially when we've held onto them for so long. But we can do that, we _want_ to do that, we've wanted to for a while now, I guess we were just waiting for you." She looked at him confused and he elaborated, "We've been waiting for you to reach out, we couldn't do it- we weren't the reason there was something wrong." 

She nodded, "Right. I guess I was just dealing with a few things, but I'm okay now- er better at least, and this talk was something that needed to happen for a while now. I have a lot to figure out, but I love you- that's something I'll always know." She gave them a smile and they smiled back, or two of them did, she looked at Louie and gestured for him to talk. 

So he did. "You messed us up, you made us think our own mother didn't want us for ten years. That doesn't just go away." And his brothers had to agree with him on that one, but Louie was forgetting one thing, they _did_ have a parent that wanted them. He wanted them so much that it didn't matter if someone else didn't. 

"We have Dad, and that's _more_ than enough." Huey comfortingly grabbed his hand and Louie smiled at him. He then turned to Della and continued, "We don't need another parent, and we don't want one. But there's always room for more family members. And you, what you did really hurt and it'll probably always hurt in some way, but we have to move on from it, we can't keep getting stuck." And he meant that about more than just this. What Magica did would always affect them, but they couldn't keep dwelling on it. They were ready for days like today, they had to be. 

"Everything has been really hard so far, and we're really tired of dealing with all of it, but we've gotten through it, so we can get through this too." Dewey said then looked at Louie. "It doesn't go away and that's okay, there are some things that can't be forgiven, that doesn't mean we can't let her into our lives in _some_ way. I know you're scared to trust her, and I don't blame you, but if we can do it you can too. That's how we work." He added on with a casual shrug. 

Louie smiled again, "Yeah, it is. Okay, if you guys want to do this then I can come around to the idea." He wasn't the type to let go of grudges, especially when it was about someone outside his family, _especially_ when it involved his brothers, however if he was being honest this time he wanted to make an exception. And for once it was cause it was something _he_ wanted to do and not his brothers. It felt weird. But he wanted to like her, and if he had to do something he rarely did then he just had to do it. 

Della grinned as she watched them then brought herself back into the conversation, "For what it's worth I am _so_ sorry I made you feel that way, it's something I'll regret for the rest of my life, and I know that me _never_ wanting to do that doesn't fix it. I'm glad you guys have Donald, he's what you deserve as a parent." They looked at each other and smiled, he really was. "I hope I can eventually be someone who deserves to be in your lives." She said with a tight smile. 

She left them alone after that but the topic didn't change. "If we are letting her back into our lives how are we doing it?" Huey asked. "Is she gonna be a like a family friend or actually part of it? And if she is how is she gonna be?" 

"Well, she did bring up the idea of being someone like Scrooge, a parental type figure, so what about something like that but maybe a little...?"

"Less close." Louie finished. His brothers nodded, that sounded good, someone they could be love and care about but keep at a careful distance, just in case. They'd probably never be able to fully trust her, or view her like they did their Uncle and Dad, but that's just how things were sometimes. It didn't mean it was a bad thing, it was probably good they did that actually. "So you guys really want to do this?" Louie asked to make sure. 

"Yeah, this isn't one of those times we're pushing aside our feelings so you'll do something too." The air grew silent at that and Dewey quickly shook his head. "We want to do this, we deserve to let go of this stuff." 

Huey hummed contemplatively and his brothers looked at him. "What about something like Aunt Della?" 

"Aunt Della." Dewey tested out. "Has a nice ring to it." The three of them smiled at each other and knew that they were all gonna be just fine.

And who knows? Maybe just fine was closer than they realized. One thing was for sure, things seemed a lot more hopeful than they did a few days ago. And if that wasn't progress they didn't know what was. 


	20. There's More Than One Way to Cause a Timephoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A timephoon is happening and someone’s keeping a secret.

To say Louie was overwhelmed was an understatement. Truthfully, he had been spiraling ever since he saw Magica again- things just keep getting worse, and now a hurricane was happening! Why, why now?!

And he knew that he would feel better if he went to his brothers or Dad but they had already done so much for him. He could handle this part. He just had to not think about her, or seeing her, or her being in his dreams..... Maybe he couldn't handle this part. But he had to try, they deserved that much, he deserved that much. And maybe this hurricane was a blessing in disguise, it would give him something else to think about. He didn't have to worry much about their safety -thankfully- but it did give him other things to worry about. 

Distraction, he needed a distraction. 

Just for a little bit, he knew by now how bad it was to distract yourself for too long. He just needed one long enough to calm himself down, and then he could figure things out from there. It was a good plan, he just hoped it would work. 

"Dewey, we're gonna need more than chili to weather this storm." Donald sternly but not unkindly told his son. "But thank you for the help, why don't you two go see if we have anything else?" He asked him and Webby who nodded and immediately took off for the kitchen. He smiled as he watched after them then glanced around the room to check on the other kids. Huey was helping Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley board up the mansion, Lena was 'supervising' -which really meant she was on her phone trying to get a signal-, and Louie was- well, he didn't know what Louie was doing, but it didn't look good. Something was wrong with him, he didn't have to have a magical bond with him to see that.

Seeing Magica again had done something to him and Donald didn't like what it could be. "Aw come on, what's wrong with chili?" Della asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. He and Mrs. Beakley shared a look,

"It's fine," 

"Until we're on day 8 with nothing but chili cheese dogs and we all get scurvy.... again." Mrs. Beakley finished and Donald nodded with a haunted look, he remembered that day all too well. 

Della brushed them off, "You guys worry too much, you gotta let kids be kids." And if that was how she was gonna be about this whole thing Donald was really glad he was here. The fact was that this was a scary, unpredictable situation and the kids needed someone reliable right now. He could've let Dewey go with just the chili but he knew that wasn't what he needed to hear right now. None of them did, they needed someone who would look after them, not a yes-man. 

And they would've all gotten sick of it after day two. 

"Della, no offense but that's not exactly gonna work right now. This is an emergency situation, we have to know what we're doing here, the kids are counting on us." And with that he went back to helping board up. Dewey and Webby then came and found him again, this time with more food and he nodded his approval. "Much better, thank you."

They started to walk off after that but he stopped Dewey, "Dew, have you talk to Louie lately? Has he told you anything upsetting or worrying?" 

He shook his head, "No, he hasn't talked about seeing Magica again yet. He seems fine, but I know he's not, his side of the bond is acting, weird, not like after he first got possessed but still weird. I'm worried about him, we both are." He said looking towards Huey. Donald nodded, he had suspected as much. He would have to talk to Louie himself but for now... 

"And you? How are you doing?" 

Dewey gave him a smile he saw right through, "Fine." He bent down to his level. 

"How are you really?" And in an instant Dewey's smile faded. How was he really? He wasn't sure he knew. He's been focusing on Louie and Huey lately, but then again he always seemed to be doing that. He was glad he had his Dad, who always reminded him it was okay for him to focus on himself too. 

"I don't know, I'm just worried about them, we've gone through some much lately. I think I'm handling it fine, I just want to get a break soon." His Dad nodded again and hugged him. 

"Well, we're stuck inside for the next few days and we're probably not gonna be too affected by the storm, so there's a bit of a break for you. I know it's been hard thing after hard thing lately but I promise you we will get through it. We just have to hang in there." Dewey put his head into the crook of his Dad's neck and hummed, he wasn't sure he wanted to keep 'hanging in there' but he guessed he didn't really have a choice. And his Dad was always right about this sort of thing, he had to trust him with this. 

This was gonna be a long couple of days, Huey knew that as soon as the hurricane got announced, which was why he was taking this time to finish his research on cave ducks. And as long as he was undisturbed he could actually do it; this was it, this was his chance to get into the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook! But when Dewey and Webby came over to him he knew being left alone wouldn't happen as easily as he wanted it to, but maybe they could help. 

And that was when a noise came from outside. The three of them looked at each other and rushed outside, ignoring their Dad and Mrs. Beakley's protests. They dragged in someone who appeared to be dead, if Dewey's cheer was anything to go by, and most of them surrounded the body. It laid there for a few seconds before it opened its eyes as they jumped back in surprise then the now alive person fled away from them in fright. The kids excitedly followed after him before getting pulled back by Donald. 

"No, no no no." He said as they moaned. "We don't know who that is or where they came from, he could be dangerous." 

"He looks like a cave duck." Webby noted and Dewey started going on about how he could've possibly got there. It made sense to Huey, but he also thought his Dad was right to be suspicious. Then again... Having an actual cave duck around would do wonders for his research. He could get all the information right from the source! Then he would get into the new Juinor Woodchuck Guidebook for sure! "A real.... life... CAVEDUCK?! He could prove my report is accurate to the Junior Woodchuck Council and guarantee my entry gets in the new guidebook!" 

"Or he could snap from being surrounded by things that are too advanced for him and possibly kill us all." Lena said from her spot far away from the duck; the others looked at her and she shrugged. "What? It could happen." 

"The more likely thing is that all of time will be disrupted, cave ducks do not belong in the 21st century." Mrs. Beakley corrected, and neither of those sounded good to Huey, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, he'd be stupid not to take it. "Small problems can turn into big problems if not prevented early. Step on a butterfly in the past, change the future indefinitely." She added on after Aunt Della basically wrote the situation off. And yeah that was also true, but a burst of thunder reminded him they had bigger things to worry about right now. As it did his Uncle Scrooge as well apparently. So they agreed to deal with things in a matter of importance, even if two of them didn't fully agree and three out of five of the kids were whisking the duck away into the den. 

They set up a shelter for the duck with Huey explaining his process but he didn't seem to be too interested, Huey tried offering him tree bark and leaves but he didn't seem to be too interested, in fact the only time he did seem to be interested was when Huey spoke his language. But even then what he said didn't make any sense, what kind of a cave duck was this?! And what even was a Bubba?! "Cave Ducks, do not, eat, cheese dogs!" He yelled frustrated as they ran after him. What a day this was turning out to be.

He wanted to be in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, he wanted to be in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, he just had to keep hanging in there and eventually he'd get the information he needed. But would it actually help him, or discredit his research entirely? Only time would tell. 

* * *

The storm was getting worse, it was growing and growing and Louie was starting to suspect he knew the reason why. A few weeks ago Huey had almost lost control of his magic, did they ever find out what would happen if he did? Cause Louie thought he knew the answer. But if that was the case.... he really hoped that wasn't the case. But there was only one way to know for sure, he needed to find his Dad, and fast. 

Oh, there he was. 

He quickly walked over to him which immediately got his attention and Louie had the feeling he had been waiting for this- or something like it at least. "I need to talk to you." So the two of them went off somewhere more private, the hidden room next to the stairs. "I think I'm causing this storm." He quietly said as soon as they got there. His Dad looked at him shocked for a few seconds before nodding and sighing. "I'm sorry I just-" 

His Dad interrupted him, "You have nothing to be sorry for. You're dealing with so much right now, and seeing Magica couldn't have helped." He bent down to his level. "Look at me, Kiddo, this is not your fault, okay? But you have to stay calm, your magic is reacting to your emotions- the more upset or angry you are the worst this storm gets. We'll keep you calm, and eventually the storm will die off. And then we need to talk." Talk? Oh god, he was mad at him. No, he had to stay calm, if there was ever a situation to temper his emotions this was it. 

"Talk?" He managed to get out; his Dad gave him a look. 

"Yes talk, you have to talk about this, Louie, things like this are what happen when you don't." This really was his fault, oh god, oh god.

"Louie." Louie shakily looked at Donald and his face softened. "You have to stay calm, whatever you're thinking isn't true. I'm not mad at you, I'm just worried." But that only seemed to make things worse. Something was really wrong here, and for once Donald didn't know how to fix it. The storm was magical, he knew exactly what had to be done to get rid of it, but then what? Louie kept getting stuck, how was he gonna move past this for good? 

"I'm sorry, I'm trying." He choked out and Donald quickly grabbed him into a hug; Louie sunk into it as he clutched to Donald like a lifeline and he felt his heart break. This wasn't fair, hadn't these kids been through enough? Why did life keep doing this to them?

"I know, Louie, I know. Just keep trying, you can do this." He started rubbing his back and sent calming waves to him, he couldn't do it as well as Huey and Dewey could but he could do it well enough. He continued this for the next few minutes and eventually Louie began to slowly calm down, until he was a completely catatonic ball in his arms. "Do you think you're okay enough to go back out there?"

Whatever Louie was about to respond was interrupted by a noise from behind them, they looked to see some sort of tub there and then heard a voice in the foyer. "Someone stole my time-tub and destroyed time and space!" Gyro. Well, that explained what the tub was. As for how it got there... Louie sunk further into his Dad's arms and felt him sigh, this was still getting worse, wasn't it? Why couldn't he just stay calm? Why now of all times? This was all Magica's fault, she was the reason he was like this in the first place. 

" _He_ is offensive to the field of anthropology!" Huey exclaimed as he and his siblings looked for the cave duck. This didn't make any sense, it was like he was some sort of anomaly or something! Anomaly... thinking on that, this whole storm was some sort of anomaly. It literally showed up out of nowhere- one minute it was a quiet, peaceful day, the next it was cloudy and extremely windy. If the cave duck made no sense this storm was an impossibility. 

Something was wrong here.... 

Huey and Dewey looked at each other and both felt it at the same time, something was wrong with their brother. And they needed to find him immediately. 

They took off running down the hall, leaving a completely baffled Webby to follow. How did they not see this? _Of course_ something was wrong with Louie, something had been wrong ever since the whole shared dream thing and he was refusing to talk about it. Why didn't they talk to him about it? They couldn't focus on that right now, they had to find him, if their suspicions were right.... they had to find him. They may be the only ones who could help him right now. 

"Start from the beginning." Donald and Louie heard Scrooge tell Gryo as they entered the den. They shared a look as he told his story, while some of the details were off it did make a surprising amount of sense. But then that would mean that the tub had been there _before_ the storm started. Louie looked at his hands, what was he doing? How long had his magic been out of control? 

Donald put a comforting hand on him as the others mused about how this could happen. It wasn't his place to say that Louie's magic -or that Louie had magic- was causing it and he was pretty sure Louie wasn't gonna say anything himself. At least, not while Della was there. "Sooo we need to find a master thief capable of breaking into both the lab and the mansion." He saw Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley look at each other and quickly shook his head at him. They looked at him confused but then their eyes widened in realization, this was a magic thing. And they could only guess who was the reason behind it. 

A ninja suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and Scrooge complained as he ran out of the room to get something to 'spook him down' leaving the rest of them to deal with it. Della and Mrs. Beakley took to fighting it while Donald led Louie away from the action in an attempt to get him to calm down. It wasn't working. No matter what he seemed to do Louie only got more and more worked up, like he was in some sort of spiral he couldn't get out of. Donald was running out of things to try, but that was when two frantic figures came rushing down the stairs looking for something. Or someone. Huey and Dewey, of course, if anyone could do anything to help it would be them. 

The two of them quickly got to them and pulled Louie into their arms, asking a million questions and frantically looking him over. "His magic is causing the timephoon." Donald gravely informed them. They looked at their brother as he started repeatedly apologizing and shook their heads. 

"It's not your fault. We've got you." They started rubbing his arms. "We've got you." And suddenly everything he had been feeling came rushing into them, they had felt it before -there was no way for them not to- but now it was like they were really _feeling_ it. God, no wonder he lost control of his magic, dealing with all this... How had he not completely collapsed from it all? Well, he wouldn't now, not if they had anything to say about it. They sent calming waves through their bond and felt him relax against them, but would it be enough? 

"Okay, I admit it this is a big problem!" Della said as she, Scrooge, Mrs. Beakley, Lena, and Gryo came rushing down the stairs. And Donald felt the urge to roll his eyes, _now_ she was getting it. Better late than never he supposed. "How do we stop it?" Louie sunk into his brothers' arms, to which she noticed and frowned at. Was he the cause of this? Did he _take_ the time-tub? "Louie..." And that was when Mrs. Beakley disappeared. 

Everyone gasped as they watched where she had once stood and Webby raced forward, Scrooge stopped her with his crane and Lena grabbed onto her hand to comfort her. The foyer fell silent save for the sound of crying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Louie was saying while clutching onto his brothers' arms, they tore their eyes away and back to him then set to calm him down but it wasn't working. It was like he wasn't even there anymore. But no, he was, they could feel his side of the bond. He was there, just not all present. They had to get him back. 

But how? 

Suddenly people from all sorts of time periods started falling into the foyer and the others jumped into action. "Louie, sweetheart, you have to calm down." Donald said as he pushed a pirate away from the boys. 

"I can't! I'm ruining everything!" His brothers held him tighter and Donald risked a look back at the three of them. _None_ of them looked good and he felt his infamous temper flare-up. _Nobody_ was making things even worse for them. He let out an enraged quack and shot out a blast of magic at all of the invaders in the foyer, temporarily knocking them away from his family. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to stop this!" 

Huey and Dewey looked at each other, "Yes you do. Remember what you told me: you control your emotions, they don't control you." 

"I don't know how to do that right now! Things just keep getting worse! I've been trying to calm down since this storm started but I can't! I'm not strong enough." Louie choked out. 

"You're the strongest person I know," Dewey told him and he looked at him with doubt. "No, I mean it. You got possessed, Della came back, yet you still took the time to put yourself together long enough to make sure we were okay. If that's not strength I don't know what is. You can do this. We're here, we've got you." He shared a look with Huey and they nodded, "If you can't do this for you, do it for us. That's what we do best." He finished softly. 

And that's when something incredible happened, life came back to Louie's eyes. He wiped his eyes then looked around the foyer, everyone was cleaning up the mess that he made, they were, _fighting_ for him, he had to do the same for them. He took a deep breath in and leaned further into his brothers, he had to do it for them. His emotions were a _mess_ right now and he didn't quite understand all of them, but he had to get them under control. They were right, he could do this. He was strong enough, he had faced his demons -both figuratively and literally- and had come out alive, but more importantly, he had come out himself. This stuff had changed him, there was no doubt about that, but he was still him. 

He was Louie Duck, and Duck's didn't back down. 

Slowly he started to calm himself down and the raging storm outside grew weaker and weaker. The only real problem was the intruders in the mansion, but the time-tub had brought them there so maybe it could take them back. He told the others as such and his Dad started tinkering with the tub until Gyro came and took over. Within seconds the people were going back to where they belonged -Mrs. Beakley included-, Bubba giving a wave to Huey as he did so. Then the foyer fell quiet. 

Finally, the storm was over. 

* * *

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief then looked at the damage it had caused then looked at each other and got to work, well, most of them did. The triplets set themselves away from everything and Louie waited for his brothers to reprimand him- only it never came. "Just get it over with already, I know how badly I messed up!"

They looked at him, "What? You didn't mess up. It was your powers, not you."

"Yeah what were you supposed to do? Keep it all inside? _That_ would've ended well." Dewey added on and Louie felt himself smile for the first time that night. He didn't point out how it'd had happened _because_ he kept things inside, it wasn't his fault his magic had reacted so volatility to it so they had a point. If it hadn't happened now it would've happened later, and much worse. His magic could've completely turned against him for all they knew. 

Suddenly the air grew tenser and Della was making her way over to them. That wasn't good. "You took the time-tub, didn't you?" 

Louie looked at her distraughtly, "What, no, I-" 

"Don't lie to me! I saw you! I saw you sink into your brothers' arms like you wanted to disappear when I asked how to stop this! What was this? One of your get-rich-quick schemes I heard so much about? Don't you ever think about the consequences of your actions, the people you could hurt!-" 

"Della, stop. You are overstepping your boundaries by a _long_ mile." Donald said stepping into the scene, the others wisely took a step back. 

"I was just trying to-" 

"It isn't your job to reprimand them! It's mine! And I'm definitely not going to do it for something that isn't their fault. You don't have the whole story, you're barging into things you don't understand, and you're doing it to people who never asked you to in the first place! You're not their parent, I am! You need to learn your place." And that was when Louie ran upstairs.

Everyone watched as he did and his brothers immediately took off after him. Scrooge was about to go and bring them back but Donald shook his head, he had a feeling they needed to look after Louie as much as Louie needed them to look after him. He then turned back to Della and felt his anger come back, not that that it had really left him. "I don't care how badly he messes up, or how much you think he messed up, you don't yell at him, any of them. It doesn't solve anything." 

"What do you mean I don't have the whole story? What else could there possibly be?"

Donald snorted, "You think after the way you acted you deserve to know?" Della froze and looked at the others for help, but Scrooge averted his eyes and Mrs. Beakley led the girls away. She was alone in this. Realistically she could see where she messed up, but she was just trying to help- she didn't want Louie to become her. She didn't want any of the kids to become her. And sure, she was harsh, but that's what tough love was, right? But Donald _did_ have more experience with them... She didn't know what she was doing, she didn't need to be told that. 

"I'm sorry." She backed away from them. "I'm sorry." And ran off. Scrooge and Donald watched her but stayed where they were. They couldn't go after her this time. 

The race to their room was some of the tensest moments of Huey and Dewey's life, things had been bad, but they hadn't been _that_ bad. Their little brother needed them, and it didn't matter how much he needed them or for how long, they would _always_ be there for him. The three of them would always be there for each other. When they got to their room they fought against their better judgment to barge in and knocked on the door. "Louie, it's us." 

"Go away." Dewey gasped. Because it was them, and he _never_ told them to go away. The two of them walked into the room anyway, knowing he needed them more than he would admit. 

"No one thinks it's your fault, you know that right?" Huey said as they sat on his bed. 

Louie refused to look at them, how could he after everything that happened? He put them in danger, he put everyone in danger, just cause he couldn't control his emotions. "The people who don't understand magic do."

The 'Della' went unsaid. 

"Then that's on them."

"I just- why didn't you tell us?" Dewey didn't get it, they told each other _everything_. Wait, maybe he did get it. He really wished he didn't though, that was the biggest mistake of his life. And now his little brother had repeated it, the one who was so insistent they tell each other everything. How much was he hurting? 

"... You guys were happy I was getting better, I didn't wanna make you unhappy." 

Huey and Dewey crawled onto either side of him, "We love you, we'll always love you." They loved him, maybe this whole thing wasn't as black and white as he was making it. There were things he could've done different, but something like this was bound to happen eventually. But why? Why was he still letting Magica affect him so greatly? What was it about her? He had told Lena that she didn't get to control them anymore and he had meant it, so why was he letting her? And he didn't even want to think about Della right now. 

"Why can't I let myself move on from everything? Seriously, why is it so hard for me? Why did I let this happen? _How_ could I let this happen? I put everyone in danger..." He felt two sets of arms circle around him and sunk into them. How could they make everything feel better with just a touch? 

"It's not your fault. Magica did this to you, _Della_ did this to you. We're just kids, we shouldn't know how to deal with this stuff. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control, this was one of those times. Please don't beat yourself up over this." Huey pleaded. 

Louie didn't answer. The air fell silent. 

"Guys, look at what I can do." The whole room lit up with stars; the three of them watched the blinking lights while cuddled up together. 

"That's really nice, Dew." 

Meanwhile the adults minus Della were cleaning up and Donald was telling the other two exactly what happened. They listened with rapid attention and the three of them came to a resolution, well two really. One, Della was _way_ out of line and two, something had to be done about Magica. "Donald, how close ta finished are Gyro and Fenton with that Anti-Prison?" Scrooge asked and he sighed, 

"Still a few days away. But I think we need to focus on Louie right now." They nodded in agreement. They were all doing so much to get rid of Magica, but Louie needed more than that. He needed his family, and badly. He was more important at the moment, they could deal with Magica and the Anti-Prison when it was done. 

Mrs. Beakley picked up a piece of debris, "There is one thing I don't understand, how did this happen in the first place? I thought the boys had a good grasp on their magic?" 

"They do, and an exceptionally good one, but they're still just kids and they don't always have a grasp on their emotions." Donald shook his head. "I knew seeing Magica again set him back, but I never expected something like this to happen." But he really should have and that was the problem, he knew his boys, he knew their magic- what it was capable of. Something like this was totally in their wheelhouse, and with everything going on... He really should've expected this. If he had... maybe he could've stopped this from happening in the first place. But he can't focus on what if's, all he can do is be there for the boys now. Just like he always was. 

"Okay, so they have a tenuous grasp on their emotions, but somethin' this large? Are they really that powerful? And why didnae Huey cause somethin' like this when he had his episode a few weeks ago?" 

Donald nodded, "It runs in our family I think, and their bond just gives them more strength. And I don't know for sure, my best guess is that Magica was still affecting their bond at that time and in turn their magic, so he was being held back in a way. Plus, Louie is dealing with a _lot_ more. They're all going through a lot- but there's a difference between watching someone get possessed and being possessed yourself, and he's always been the sensitive one- things like this _really_ get to him." 

Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley looked at each other, "What can we do now?" 

"We can let him know that this wasn't his fault, that we don't blame him. We can let him know that we're here for him and he can talk to us about whatever, he didn't tell Huey and Dewey cause he didn't want to upset or disappointed them, we _have_ to let him he can come to us too. That they're not his only support system, cause he really seems to have forgotten that." They could do all of that, they would do all of that, Louie was counting on them, all of the kids were. They couldn't let them down. They wouldn't. 

The kids deserved better than that. They all did. 


	21. True Healing Starts with Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Della learns the consequences of her actions and the family really starts to heal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... it's literally been a month... I have no excuses, all I can say is I'm sorry for taking so long to update. I think I've just been putting off ending this because I don't want it to end. But it has to. And I'm super excited to write the next installment! So now I have a game plan of sorts: the final two chapters are gonna be completed and uploaded in February. And yes, I am holding myself to that. 
> 
> But all that aside, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter that's been a month in the making! I promise it's a good one.

That night was a particularly rough night for everyone in the mansion, no one was able to get more than a couple of hours of sleep. And it showed the next day. But some of them were more tired than the others, like Louie who hadn't gotten a decent nights' sleep in a while, or Donald who hadn't gotten a full nights' sleep for years now- the past few weeks definitely hadn't helped that. He made himself get up when his alarm went off though, he had something he had to do today. The boys probably wouldn't be up for a while so he took his time getting out of bed. After all that happened last night he needed all the time to himself he could get. 

Besides, if he went out there he risked running into Della, and he really didn't want to do that right now.

He just couldn't believe her! What right did she think she had yelling at Louie like that?! Even if her intentions had been good there were just some things you never did and she at least had to have an idea of that by now! But no, she only thought of how she was affected, _again_! She hadn't been back long, but he was already getting sick of it. So yeah, running into her was not a good idea right now. It wasn't like he would avoid her forever, he just needed some time to calm down- hopefully by then she'd be ready to apologize. 

When he heard movement from the hall outside of his door a little while later he knew it was time for him to face the world. Mrs. Beakley would probably come make him get up soon either way and he'd prefer it if his dignity could stay intact. He was in his thirties, he didn't need to be woken up like he was ten. 

Once he got out into the hall he made his way to his first destination, the boys' room. He and Louie _had_ to talk about last night, it couldn't be avoided anymore. Talking would help them both, help Donald see what exactly had happened. Then they could figure out how to solve this from there. Okay, he had a game plan, now he just had to put that plan into action. He knocked on the boys' door but didn't receive an answer and assumed they were still asleep; he went in anyway and saw that his assumption had been correct. He thought about just letting them sleep and coming back later but Huey woke up before he could. 

When Huey noticed his Dad in his room he knew something was up and woke his brothers. They both groaned and protested but he persisted and eventually they were sitting up, noticing the extra presence in the room. "Dad?" Dewey sleepily asked and he smiled at them. 

"Morning, boys, how'd you sleep?" Dewey let out a noise and fell against the bed which answered his question. "You can get some more rest if you want." 

"Did you need something?" Huey said, trying to pull Dewey back up- it wasn't working. 

Their Dad waved him off, "It's nothing that can't wait, promise." And that was true. If Louie was too tired for this then nothing would get accomplished. But it looked like he knew what was up, not that that was a surprise. 

"This is about last night, isn't it?" Donald nodded and Louie sighed as he stretched. "Okay, let's get this over with I guess, I don't think I can go back to sleep anyway." So the two of them left Huey and Dewey to go back to sleep -after Louie assured them he would be fine- and went to Donald's room. They were quiet as Louie got situated on Donald's bed and Donald ran his fingers through his hair as he sat next to him. He may of had a game plan, but that didn't mean he knew where to start. "I'm sorry about last night, if I had come to you sooner maybe it wouldn't have been as bad." Louie said quietly.

Donald shook his head, "You didn't know what was happening, you didn't know there was a problem until there was a problem, you know?" Louie nodded. "I just want to know what happened exactly. What made it get that bad?" 

"I don't know for sure, I think it was multiple things. I didn't think I was capable of something like _that_...." Donald wrapped an arm around him and he sunk into his embrace then continued. "Huey was right about us needing better control, sometimes I think we're too powerful for our own good." 

"You're at a power level you can handle, this is just a tricky situation. But it's one we _will_ get through, okay? And you know how we do that? By talking, so talk to me, Louie, what's going on with you?" And that was when Louie spilled everything. How much seeing Magica again had messed him up, how he wanted to have a relationship with Della but she made it so hard, how much he hated that his brothers were basically putting their lives on hold for him, and how afraid he was that he let Donald down yesterday. 

Donald hummed as he took all of that in. It really was a lot, too much for one person to deal with all at once. No wonder he had caused a timephoon. "A lot happened yesterday but you did not let me down, you and your siblings could _never_ let me down. I'm just worried about you, Kiddo, we all are. You can talk to people besides Huey and Dewey, you know that right? The rest of us are here for you too, I know sometimes the others may drop the ball a bit but they trying their best, they want you to get better too." 

"I know." He did know that, but sometimes it was easier to talk to Huey and Dewey, he didn't have to explain everything to them, they just, got it. He really needed that right now. "I talked to Lena a while ago." 

"Good, I'm glad you two have some who understands what you went through, even if I wished it never happened in the first place. But I think the reason she's more ready to move on than you are is that she was more open about it. It took a while, but eventually she was able to talk to Scrooge and Mrs. B as well as you and Webby. You get where I'm going with this?" 

Louie nodded, "Other people want to help me, I just have to let them." That was easier said than done, but he wanted to move forward and he was tired of being all talk. It was time he actually did something about it. 

His Dad rubbed his head, "And that stuff with Della... she'll come around eventually, she always does but if you don't want to forgive her- don't. It's good that you want to have a relationship with her but that doesn't mean she just gets to do things that upset you without consequences. Especially something like last night." He paused for a second. "Do Huey and Dewey know you think that? That you think they're putting their lives on hold for you?" 

"I think they have some idea. They've done more than enough for me, I don't wanna..." He trailed off after that, not entirely sure of where he was going. He wasn't _burdening_ them, he knew he wasn't, they needed him right now as well and they weren't burdening them, so he couldn't be doing it to them. What word was he looking for then? "I don't wanna keep doing this to them." He settled on. "I just don't know why I keep getting stuck, I move forward and immediately get pulled back. I don't understand why it keeps happening." He was ready to move forward, he knew he was, and he had been putting in the work to do so for a while now, so what was the problem? Why was something like last night so inevitable? 

"Walk me through last night." Was all his Dad said, so he did. He talked about how he had known something was wrong since before the storm began and how frightened he kept getting at every little thing but he didn't know why he was so scared, and that made him even more scared. He talked about how he tried to listen to his Dad's advice but couldn't and how that made him get mad at himself. He talked about how awful he felt when everything kept happening and getting worse and it seemed like it would never stop. He talked about the helplessness he had to endure and just how deep his brothers actually had to go to get through to him, how something like that hadn't happened before. He talked about how seeing his family fight for him made him want to fight for them and how good it felt to get everything under control and fix the problem he had created. 

He talked about how surprising it was that none of them were mad at him, and how upsetting it was when it turned out one of them was. 

When he was done he buried himself in his Dad, exhausted from everything and just wanting to hide from the world. He was tired, so tired, he just wanted some rest. "That's too much for one person, Louie. You can't," His Dad let out a sigh and Louie could picture him running his fingers through his hair. "You can't deal with that on your own, okay? You just can't. You keep getting stuck cause you try to do that, you _have_ to let the rest of us in. You _have_ to let us be here for you." But he has been letting people in, Huey and Dewey were enough, they always were. But thinking that... would it be so bad if they weren't? 

He felt himself flinch as soon as he thought that, he wasn't expecting them to solve all his problems or anything but they were helping him in ways the others never could, so what was the point of letting them in? Would it really help, or would it make him feel less understood than normal? _Oh._ That's what it was. He was scared to let them in, wasn't he? 

That wasn't good, they were family he shouldn't... he shouldn't be like that. His brothers were enough but... maybe it was time to seek out some other people. And no, as much as he wished he did his Dad didn't count. It was time to go to the other adults. 

After Louie met up with the other kids the five of them decided to make their way down to breakfast. Louie's brothers gave him a look to see if he would say how the talk went but he shook his head- he did need to open up more, but right now he was hungry. They talked about nothing in particular as they walked but when they entered the dining room they came across an unusual sight: both Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley were at the table, that hadn't happened in a while. Did something happen? Err, well, something else. 

"What's up?" Dewey asked as they sat down. 

Scrooge shrugged, "It's just been a while since we all sat down and ate breakfast together, we think it's a good idea ta start again." And the kids really saw no problem with that, though they did look around, as if searching for someone. "Just us today." Scrooge answered before they could ask. "Donald'll be joinin' tomorrow but fer today the two o' us have some things we'd like ta discuss with yew."

No one said anything about Della. 

"I didn't do it." Lena immediately said and Mrs. Beakley rolled her eyes, 

"Nothing like that, dear, it's just been brought to our attention that we've been rather preoccupied lately, so we're sorry about that and we will be shifting our focus onto more important things from now on." 

"I guess we've been a little preoccupied ourselves. But that sounds good." The other kids nodded in agreement with Huey. "Is there anything else?" 

The two of them looked at each other, "Yes, actually. We want ye all ta know that yew can come ta us with any problems yer havin', we'll do whatever we can ta help, whatever yew need. We're a family and family is there fer each other no matter what, but especially in times like these." The kids smiled at them and nodded, then dug into their food so the adults followed suit, assuming that the issue was adequately addressed. The room was quiet as they ate until Louie suddenly looked up from his plate which made Scrooge peer at him curiously. 

"Dad said if I really wanna move on from everything I have to be more open. I'm... I'm not okay, I've been struggling for a while now and last night... it was just too much. I'm so _tired_." Everyone looked at each other and Huey, who was sitting closest to him, put a hand on him reassuringly. It seemed to say, 'it's okay if you're not okay, we're here for you until you are.' Louie didn't know how much he needed to hear that.

"I'm not okay either," Webby quietly admitted making everyone turn to her. "I know I'm not as close to you guys as you are to each other but Louie's still my brother and I hate that he's going through all this just as much as you do. And then there's Della and you guys don't seem interested in having a relationship with her anymore, which is totally understandable! But things are getting weird again and just as they were getting better, and I'm so scared we're gonna split apart again." She tried not to start crying as Mrs. Beakley got out of her chair and pulled her into a hug. It looked like all of them were struggling. 

Scrooge got out of his own seat and bent down next to her, "Lass, that's nae goin' ta happen again, _none_ o' us want that, and whatever we have ta do ta make sure it doesnae happen we're goin' ta do it. No ane is leavin' again." Webby brought herself out from her Granny a bit and looked at Lena. 

"Ah, come on, Pink, don't." Lena sniffled a bit and wiped her eye. "I'm not going anywhere, _promise,_ okay? God, it was bad enough I left you the first time. But I'm here to stay, nothing can make me leave. And I wanna stay, being here's been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. ...Ugh, you people have made me soft." She said, rubbing her eyes; the others laughed.

Then the triplets got up as well and pulled Webby into a hug of their own. "You're one of us, Webs, don't ever forget that." 

Webby let out a wet noise, "I won't."

The other kids still had issues of their own they needed to share, but for right now, this was good. This was something they all needed. 

* * *

Breakfast continued normally after that and once it was done the triplets shared a look and knew what they wanted to do next. So they made their way outside, followed by everyone else. They looked at each other again then shrugged, more the marry they guessed. Outside was relatively normal considering the events of last night, something could be said about how the world seemed to move on faster from these things than they did. Something, but no one was sure what. 

"So what exactly are we doing out here?" 

"We need to work on our magic, so that we can put a rune on ourselves that makes sure things like possession can't happen again." Huey answered. 

Scrooge hummed, "Magic's the answer fer everythin' with yew four, isnae it?" The triplets looked at him curiously and shrugged. 

"Not everything. But you have to admit, it does make some things easier." Their Uncle didn't have anything to say to that so they considered it a win for now. They knew he was still having trouble accepting they had magic but he was trying and that was what mattered. He'd never be it's biggest fan but he'd come around to it eventually and that was good enough for them, he easily could've been a lot worse about it but there was also something to be said about how much he cared about his family and what he was willing to do for them. And he was still out here right now, that was definitely a win. 

"What were you guys doing before?" Before being when Louie had gone out with Goldie. His brothers let him know and then gave him a subtle look over. "I'm good, let's do this." So they got to work. 

Building their magic back up was harder than it seemed, especially since it seemed to be more hesitant to show itself because of last night. Or maybe they were hesitant. "Should we get Donald?" Someone asked them when a few minutes had gone by without anything happening. Their reluctance to answer seemed like an answer in itself and a few moments later their Dad had joined them as well. That was good, he would know how to fix this. Hopefully. 

"Okay," Donald said as soon as he was caught up on the situation. "First thing you need to know is something like last night isn't gonna happen again, no one else is keeping things to themself, right?" The triplets nodded. "Then you're good. Something like that only happens when you're put under extreme emotion, it takes _a lot_ to get to that point, especially when you're as skilled as you three are. Remember, your magic reacts to your emotions, and even that can be easily controlled at your power level." 

Huey looked at him, "So it was a rare case?" 

"More or less. It was kind of like a magical breakdown, as long as you don't let yourselves get to that point again it shouldn't happen again." That made them feel better. So it really just came back to their emotions, or controlling them more specifically. They could do that. But either way they really did need to get some practice in, that rune wasn't gonna apply itself. 

The triplets got back to work and Donald turned towards Lena, last he heard she was gonna start using her magic again. "Lena, you wanna practice some as well?" She looked away from the boys and to him before shrugging. 

"Sure, why not?" She held out her hands in front of her then paused, "I don't actually know how to start." 

"What do you know how to do?" She explained everything she was capable of and he nodded along, it seemed like she was a few stages behind the boys. It made sense considering her upbringing, Magica probably didn't want her to get _too_ strong. Donald could work with that. She'd probably never be a strong as them or him, due to the fact that they were Coots, but she could be strong in her own right. And he was more than happy to help her get there. 

"Okay, so you know basic magic, right?" She nodded. "So the next step is going into the different types, have you ever done anything other than shadow magic?" 

Lena shrugged, "Not really, only when the situation called for it." 

"Are you interested in learning about the other types?" 

"Can I?" She countered. 

"I don't see why not. Look, why don't we start here: do you know what type of magic user you are? Sorcerer, Witch, something else? That'll help determine what all you can do." 

"I'm a shadow." Was all she said. Right, Donald remembered, she was a special case. Well, that made this harder, but not impossible. "Maybe I shouldn't be doing this..." 

Donald looked at her, "Do you want to?" She nodded. "Then we'll figure something out. I have a whole library dedicated to magic, any time you wanna use it you're free to. Just give me a heads up first." He said with an amiable smile. She nodded and he turned back to the boys; they looked to be doing better, like all they needed was some reassurance. That was good. Maybe last night wasn't as big of a setback as they all thought. They all certainly seemed to be on the same page this time, well, all except... 

He didn't even want to think about her right now, his unusual-as-of-late good mood might be ruined if he did. It was good that she was separating herself from them, they needed the space. Or maybe they were doing the separating. Either way, this moment wasn't about her and he didn't want to make it be. They could deal with that another time, when they were actually ready to. And that definitely wasn't right now. And that was okay, this moment was about the rest of them, and it was a good one. 

After a while Louie went back inside needing a small break, and a pep, and quickly wished he didn't. Of course he would run into Della. He thought about going back outside before deciding he was tired of running and avoiding everything. "You had no right to do that yesterday." He told her as she tried to leave, she flinched then turned around to face him. 

"I know but I was just trying to-" 

"I don't care." Louie cut her off. "You still had no right. You say that you get that your place in our life isn't one of a parent, but then you go and act like one. Kind of hypocritical if you ask me. Do you really get that, or were you just saying that to get on our good sides? Cause it doesn't work like that, and you said you got that too." He coldly told her and she tried to reply, but he wasn't done yet. "And you only did it with me, I don't get it do you not trust me or something? What, did you hear some things and decide that I was the triplet to be wary of? In what world is that fair? Dad and Uncle Scrooge trust me, you're the only one that doesn't and I don't know why. I haven't done anything." 

"Louie..." Della bent down, "I see so much of myself in you." 

"The bad stuff."

"The stuff that can become bad if gone unnoticed. No one ever curbed that behavior in me, Donald tried but he's my brother, I wasn't actually gonna listen to him. And I stole the spear."

Of all things to insinuate. As if he would ever do something that stupid. "I'm not that reckless."

"That doesn't mean you won't do something like that one day."

Louie let out a humorless chuckle, "You know, everyone always thought that Dewey would be the one to do that but I didn't. I know him better than I know myself, my brothers know me better than I know myself. They don't think I'd do something like that and I believe them. Maybe you're the one that doesn't get it." He walked away after that having nothing else to say and went back outside. He could just conjure himself a pep, he didn't want to be near her right now. 

Everyone watched at him as he made his way down the stairs. "I ran into Della." Was all he offered. He was given sympathetic looks and his Dad drew him into a hug. "I'm okay, I just can't deal with her right now. Can we get back to practice?" The others nodded and he went over to his brothers, needing their comfort specifically. Oh right, he was supposed to be working on that. Well... that could wait a few hours, he was tired again and they were the only ones who could help with that. 

Huey and Dewey looked at each other, "You sure you're okay?" 

"Yeah, it was just a lot. Let's get back to this." There was something he wasn't saying, but he really did seem to be fine so they wouldn't push it. But he was right about one thing, Della definitely did make it hard to want to have a relationship with her. 

* * *

This was something the three of them needed, Dewey thought, as he watched his brothers get reacquainted with their magic. After everything... it was good for them to do something like this. Especially with everyone else being around, well almost everyone. But he didn't want to think about her right now, just as they were starting to move on from everything she did she did something else, it was tiring. If he asked Huey about it he'd say it was some form of self-sabotage but he didn't want to feel bad for her so he didn't. And he didn't care, if she wanted to do that that was no one's problem but hers. That was how he saw it at least. He was gonna hang out with the rest of his family and focus on moving forward with them, something that was long overdue. 

But if he was gonna do that he had to face his own problems. "I'm tired of pretending I'm okay." He suddenly said which made everything in the yard come to a standstill; everyone looked at him. "Everything just _keeps happening_ and everyone says that we'll eventually get a break but then something else happens! I just want it all to stop." He sagged down and felt two hands place themselves on him. His brothers, he'd know their touch anywhere. 

"Dewey, how long?" Donald asked softly but demandingly. He had known something was up, but he didn't know how bad it was. 

Dewey refused to look at him, or anyone else. "Since we shared dreams." The other kids quietly gasped and he flinched. Yeah, it had been too long for him not to say something. "I'm sorry, but with everything else going on I don't know I just, I thought it was something we were all dealing with and maybe we are, but I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry." 

"It's okay, it's not something you have to be sorry for." Huey was quick to reassure him. "I mean, how many times do I have to tell you guys that we shouldn't have to be dealing with all of this before you actually believe it? It's too much for us, there's nothing wrong with that. I can't say things won't keep happening but I can say we'll get through them, as long as we're together we can get through anything." 

"That's what family does." Mrs. Beakley added on making Dewey look at her, he gave a small smile.

"And look at it this way," His Dad said next. "We're getting a break right now. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get. Things are always gonna happen, us not wanting them to doesn't change that but we can change how they affect us. And taking breaks when and where you can helps with that. But it won't be this hectic forever, I know that much. Eventually we'll find our new normal, we just have to keep remembering that no matter how tired we get." He could do that. He still wished everything would stop, but maybe going through it with his family wouldn't be so bad. 

Seeing that Dewey felt a little better Huey thought it was his turn to share how he's been feeling. And it wasn't like either of them were really hiding anything, they just hadn't been talking about it. Or they had, but then they stopped. But he knew better than anyone that if they were gonna move forward they had to keep talking, and with everyone here now seemed like a good time to do it. "I've been struggling too, looking after everyone gets tiring- I'm happy to do it, but sometimes it gets to be too much, like right now." 

"Sooo... you take breaks too." Dewey said in a light tone. "You can't handle everything on your own and you shouldn't have to, it's okay to let people look after you for a while." 

Scrooge nodded in agreement, "The lad's right, it's nae a weakness ta admit ye need help, somethin' that took me ta many years ta realize. It's nice that ye want ta take care o' everyane but it isnae always possible. Besides, yer a kid, it isnae yer job ta do that." Well, that didn't really do anything for him, he knew it wasn't his job but he _liked_ doing it. Taking care of everyone made him feel needed- he was an oldest brother, it was literally engraved in him. But Dewey _was_ right, he needed breaks too. And his Uncle was right in the fact that he was a kid, why was that so easy to forget? 

When all of this was over he was gonna put more effort into actually being one. 

"He knows it's not his job, he just does it cause he's a nerd." Louie said teasingly which made Huey stick his tongue out at him. Luckily it was easy for his brothers to remind him. 

It was easy for his brothers to remind him about a lot actually. "You don't _have_ to do it, you know that, right?" His Dad asked him. And he got why he did, when they were on the houseboat and their Dad was constantly working it fell on him to look after his brothers most of the time. He was the most responsible one, one of them had to be, and since he was technically the oldest he had taken that role without thinking too much about it. He didn't _really_ have to do it then, they had babysitters and their Dad was always around enough for them to feel loved and cared for, he just did it. Dewey and Louie needed someone who understood them to look after them and they didn't always have that so he stepped up. Something he would never regret. 

He never really felt like he _had_ to do it but he wanted to, it was what they deserved. "I know, I just like doing it. But I'll step back sometimes, I don't like feeling like this." He had other people to look after him, he had other people to look after his brothers, he just had to remember that. 

"Oh, curse me kilts!" Scrooge suddenly said making everyone look at him, "There's been a break-in at the Money Bin, Glomgold, and apparently he's got back up." 

"Well, this break was nice while it lasted. We're gonna go deal with this now, right?" Everyone got out of their spots and headed for the Sunchaser, answering Lena's question. "Alright." She followed after them and they all boarded, quickly realizing they needed a pilot and Launchpad was missing from the manor. Scrooge and Donald argued about Scrooge piloting, four out of five of the kids voicing their disapproval of the idea as Mrs. Beakley left, then came back with Della. The plane fell silent. 

"There's no time fer this, Della, we need ta get ta the Money Bin, now." Della nodded seriously and sat down in the pilot's seat, swiftly but safely talking off. Everyone took their seats, the triplets sitting farthest from her, and stayed quiet as the plane zoomed through the air. This would be an awkward ride to be sure. 

And it was. Awkward but short, and all too soon they were at the Money Bin with no plan on how to deal with the intruders or any idea of what they were even doing there. It was nothing good though, something that became even more clear when they saw that Magica was with him. Louie and Lena shared a look and nodded their heads, they definitely weren't staying at out this one. They knew first hand what she was capable of, even without her magic, they weren't gonna let her do anything to the others. 

"Glomgold, and co." Scrooge gave them a short nod. "What are ye doin' here?" 

Glomgold let out a fake gasp, "Did you forget about our little bet, Scroogey? Time's up! And I, Flintheart Glomgold, had the bright idea to combine all of us villains' money together, which makes ME richer THAN YOU! HAH!" 

"You made a bet with Glomgold!" Donald yelled at his Uncle. 

" _Before_ all o' this happened! I had forgotten all aboot it! And bless me bagpipes, what makes yew think the lot o' yew have more money than _me_ , the Richest Duck in the World?" He addressed the villains who started to laugh maniacally. Scrooge subtly moved himself in front of his family, maniacal laughter was never good. 

"Read and weep, Scroogey!" Glomgold held a contract in front of him and he quickly scanned it, his eyes widening as he realized Glomgold was indeed telling the truth. He won the bet, Scrooge lost. He shot a glare at Magica knowing most of the reasoning was her fault and she smirked at him; he then tapped at his cane, wanting to do something but not knowing what that could be. Glomgold won fair and square, and he was a man of honor. He just wished he wasn't so gloaty about it. 

Louie narrowed his eyes as he watched Glomgold gloat, wait, Glomgold, wasn't his name... "Duke Baloney, that's your real name! That contract is null!" The others gasped as his Uncle let out a victorious cheer, realizing he was right. The villains glared at Duke who refused to be deterred. 

"So!? I still have it, I can just replace my name!" He struggled to hold the paper in place as he tried to do so and Louie rolled his eyes, this was his Uncle's greatest enemy?

Scrooge jumped forward to grab it from him and that was when the fights broke out. There was more of the McDuck clan than the villains so they were clearly gonna win but there was still the issue of Glomgold having the contract, if he somehow got his real name on there... It was nothing good for their family and Louie was really tired of that happening. There had to be some way to get it from him without him noticing, but how? 

Louie quickly dodged an attack that had been coming from the side of him and turned towards the person ready to retaliate when he saw that it was Magica. He froze for a second as he let out a gulp before deciding he was tired of this. Tired of being scared, tired of having no control, tired of being tired. This was his time to come out on top. He unfroze then thought quickly and shot a blast of magic at her, driving her away from him. Before she could get back to him he put a protective barrier around himself as he watched the rest of his family deal with their fights. 

They were doing good so far and there was definitely strength in numbers but, after everything... they shouldn't be having to do this too. None of them should. He brought down his barrier then started performing a spell that he had read about, one that would incapacitate Magica, at least temporarily. Once the spell was finished he directed at her and she dropped down, unconscious. Man, it felt good to have control of his magic again. 

Next, he turned towards his Uncle and Glomgold's fight and spotted the contract, tightly in Glomgold's grasp, nothing would make him loosen it. Well, one thing would. He snapped his fingers and in an instant the contract appeared in his other hand. The two of them noticed immediately and started looking around to see if they could find it, their eyes landing on Louie as he gave a taunty wave. Scrooge's face broke out in a wide grin as Glomgold glared at him and started rushing towards him. He was quickly tripped up by a blast of magic courtesy of one or both of Louie's brothers. 

Magic... He had another idea. Magic could switch out the name legally, right? Well, they were about to find out. "Louie... what are you planning?" His Dad asked warily. 

See, the thing with Louie was that you never really knew what his intentions were, and only two people were exempt from that. He could rip up the contract, or he could use it to give himself an edge, and after everything he's been through... Well, Donald really wouldn't blame him. 

Meanwhile the other villains were advancing on Glomgold, for letting a couple of children get the best of him. He took off running into the distance and they chased after him, that was one problem taken care of. Everyone that was remaining turned back to Louie and Scrooge held out his hand. "Come on, Lad, give that ta me." Louie didn't move. 

"If I put my name of this, I win the bet. I'm tired of losing." Scrooge carefully moved forward but before he could do anything Louie magically changed the name from 'Flinheart Glomgold' to 'Llewellyn Duck'. 

"Louie... what did you just do?" Louie wasn't entirely sure what he just did if he were being honest. He just knew he wanted a win and that he had been provided one. He didn't think about it, he probably should of but it was too late for that now, he had to stick to his guns. He was now the richest duck in the world. Oh, this was gonna _fun_. Until it inevitably went wrong and he learned some valuable lesson that was. But it would probably be a good lesson for him to learn, he really hated getting those. 

"So, what'd I miss?" Della happily said as she stepped back onto the scene -from making sure the villains were really gone- then noticed the tense atmosphere and groaned. "Oh, I always miss the important stuff." 


	22. You Don't Have to Fix Everything on Your Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magica is finally dealt with for good and talks are had.

As soon as they got back to the mansion Louie made a beeline for his room, he wasn't interested in answering questions right now. But as two sets of footsteps followed after him he knew he really didn't have a choice. 

And sure enough, as soon as they got there the questioning started, "Louie, why did you do that? What were you thinking?" Dewey first, that was a bit unusual, but whatever, he would roll with it. 

And because these are his brothers he had to be honest with them. "I wasn't, really, I just-" He cut himself off and ran his fingers through his hair. Their faces softened immediately, he really didn't know what he was doing, did he? "I have my reasons, why can't we just leave it at that?" 

Huey and Dewey looked at each other, "This isn't something like not wanting to do chores, this is serious. You're messing with real things here, Louie, people's lives. This time it isn't just about you. You need to know what you're doing here." Huey stressed. 

"I don't know what I'm doing!" Louie threw his hands up, "I haven't for weeks now! All I know is that I'm so tired of everything being bad and I did something good today, and why should I give up the company if I don't want to?" 

"It's not yours. Look, we're not saying you didn't basically save the day earlier cause you did, but that doesn't mean you can take something that isn't yours. This isn't the way to do this." 

"What if it is for me? What if this is how I'm supposed to feel better about everything?" 

"What if it's not? What if everything just gets worse?" Dewey retorted. But no, that wouldn't happen, Louie would make everything better. Money fixed problems, and now he had a surplus of it. He could fix everything, he could make things easier for his brothers and Dad, that was the least they deserved. He could figure all of this out, cause Huey _was_ right, he had to know what he was doing, he couldn't afford to mess this up. It was his family at stake, and he'd never want to do anything to hurt them. 

"I can figure this out, I'm good with money, and finances, and I've learned a lot about business these past few weeks. I need to do this, I need a win, guys." 

Dewey stared at him, "Is this a win?" He shrugged, 

"I guess we'll have to find out." 

The day was here, the anti-prison was finally done. Which meant the only thing left to do was set it up, something Donald was more than ready to do. Magica had done enough to this family, it was way past time for her to go. The only trouble was Della was still going with him and Scrooge to set it up and he didn't want to talk to her. It was clear she felt very guilty and remorseful about what she did, but that didn't change the fact that she kept doing stuff like this. How many times did she have to mess up before she got it? He didn't know, but he wasn't sure he could keep doing this. Especially not at the expense of his kids. 

But it looked like setting up the anti-prison was going to longer than he thought, they couldn't afford to make a mistake and for it to not work properly so they had to do everything very carefully. Luckily he wasn't the only one taking this seriously. Unluckily it looked like one of them wasn't really pay attention. 

And it seemed like he wasn't the only one that noticed. "Uncle Scrooge? Anybody hoooome?" Their Uncle shook himself out of his thoughts. 

"Sorry, just thinkin'."

"Yeah we got that, about what?" Donald asked as he gingerly picked up the anti-prison and looked for a spot to place it. The three of them were currently at the highest point in Duckberg, that was where Gyro said it would cover the most ground. What he didn't say is that it would be really windy, Donald should've known regardless, they were in the mountains after all. 

"Aboot Louie. Ae'm worried aboot him, Donald, he's gettin' in over his head, he's nowhere near ready ta own an actual company! Ae'm just worried somethin' bad's gonna happen to him." 

Donald stopped what he was doing and slowly turned to his Uncle, "Why would something bad happen to him?" He said warningly and narrowed his eyes as Scrooge bit back a gulp. 

"It's a hard job, Lad! Nae only are some people nae cut oot fer it, there are enemies and phony people and curses! He's nae ready fer it, nae yet." Donald knew he wasn't, but he also knew how much something like this meant to him. How much he thought that he needed it. He needed to come to the conclusion of that not being true on his own, that was the only reason he hadn't made him give it back yet. But if not even _his brothers_ could Donald would be fighting a losing battle. And the last thing any of them needed right now was to be fighting. 

...Yes he understood the hypocrisy of his words, but it wasn't like he and Della were fighting, they just weren't talking to each other. Or, he wasn't talking to her and she was finally being patient and waiting until he was ready. 

"I know he's not and deep down so does he. He needs this right now, Scrooge." Scrooge sighed but dropped the subject and the three of them got back to the task at hand. The first thing they had to do was find somewhere to set it up, but it had to be in a specific place- one that wouldn't be affected by things like weather. Why did they have to be on a mountain? Of all places, why a mountain? _Everywhere_ was affected by weather up here. Okay, so where was the place least affected by it? Probably somewhere closer to the ground, but not so low that they couldn't tinker with it as need be. 

After a few minutes of searching they managed to find a spot and Scrooge and Della let out a sigh of relief as he started to place it. They were probably beginning to get cold, luckily he had thought ahead and made a heating charm for himself before they left. He would've made some for them, but they didn't think to ask, they were too stubborn to accept any anyway. He was too stubborn too, but at least he knew when to put it aside so he didn't get things like hypothermia. 

Once he made sure it was successfully in place the other two came up to him, "What next?" Della asked. 

" _Next_ , we have to turn it on- Gyro and Fenton already made sure it was set to focus on Magica's energy, so all we have to do is follow the steps to make sure it can't be messed with by anyone that's not one of us or them." They nodded so he turned back to it and switched it on. Immediately the cube glowed in purple light and emitted a beam from itself. The three of them watched as the beam enveloped the whole town then disappeared once it was finished. 

Della sulked down, "Does that mean it didn't work?" 

"No, it's supposed to be invisible. A purple barrier would get pretty distracting, don't you think?" She thought for a second then nodded. "Alright, now for the hard part. _How_ do we make sure it can't be messed with? We have to be a hundred percent sure, we can't afford to mess this up." 

"Agreed. The two o' them didnae install a switch or somethin'?" His nephew and niece looked at him. "What?" 

"No, they didn't install a switch, that would be too easy to turn off!" Scrooge held up his hands surrenderingly and Donald sighed. "They said we would have to come up with something, that if they just installed a feature or something similar it could get cut off." 

"Well, how was ae supposed ta know that?!" Della gave Donald a _'can-you-believe-this-guy'_ look and he smiled before turning away, missing her mouth shift into a frown. Why did she have to make this so hard? 

"Isn't there a spell you can do?" She said softly. 

Donald turned that down immediately, "Magic and technology don't mix." The three of them fell silent as they tried to think of something, but no matter how hard he tried everything he came up with had a flaw. But there had to be something, they couldn't have done all this just to fall at the final hurdle... Wait, magic and technology don't mix, but magic and other media do. He perked up and conjured his spellbook which made the other two look at him. "We need a medium, something I _can_ do magic on." Their eyes widened and they turned their attention to the book, to which he then began to flip through. After a few moments he had what he needed, 

"Ostite- the only thing that is known to be completely indestructible. If I can reflect a modified protection spell off of this onto the anti-prison, it'll be completely protected!" And with that, he got to work. Conjuring the Ostite would be the easy part, so would making the spell, the hard part would be embedding the spell in the element and embedding the element into the ground, luckily it was biological-friendly. But he could do it, his kids were at stake here, of course he could do it. 

Once he got the easy part out of the way he took a breath and gestured for the others to back up, "I don't know how this'll go." He explained. After they were a safe enough distance away he carefully pushed the spell into the element, there was a bit of resistance but a little more force had it fading away. Once he was sure it was successfully in there he removed his hands then paused for a second before placing them on top of it. He pushed again and this time the resistance was more present, but nonetheless he was able to push it into the ground with success. It started to glow then shot up a beam which surrounded the anti-prison. The three of them cheered and shared a hug, 

They had done it, they had gotten Magica De Spell out of Duckburg for good. 

* * *

To say the triplets were at sort of an impass with each other was a bit of an understatement- or more precisely: Huey and Dewey were at an impass Louie, but the three of them were determined to go on with their day regardless. They could talk when Louie got back, it would do them no good to dwell on it before then. So while he went to try to run a business his brothers spent the day with Webby and Lena. They had many reasons for this, but the most prominent one was that if they were with those two there was less of a chance of them running into Della. 

They really couldn't run into her right now, they were still too mad. 

Honestly, what right did she have to do any of that to Louie? She didn't, and they didn't appreciate her doing it. She was part of the reason he took Scrooge's business in the first place, they knew she was, he wanted to prove himself to her, but he didn't have to prove anything to anyone, ever. And they hated that he thought he did. But, they could talk about all of that when he got back, until then they had to focus on other things. Like _whatever_ Webby and Lena were planning to do. 

"What is this?" Huey asked as the two of them walked up to them. The girls looked at each other, back to what they were doing, then at each other again. He sighed, "I'm not gonna tell on you guys or anything. But if you're doing something that's potentially dangerous you need to be safe, lucky for you, I'm the best with that." 

Dewey nodded, "He's got all the JW badges for safety stuff, and there's _a lot_ of them. And! He got them in like a record-breaking amount of time!" 

"Cool!"

"Yeah, we got different definitions of cool, Pink." Webby shrugged. "Anyways, _this_ is a magical test of sorts, I'm trying to see all I can do, since you know," Lena gestured up and down at herself, "Shadow." 

"And I made it fun! Do you guys wanna join?" They shared a look before shrugging, it's not like they had anything else to do. And they could probably help a little more than Webby could. Though they had never been part of a magic test before, though there had also never been anyone like Lena before. This was going to be an experience for sure. 

The first thing Louie did when he got to the money bin was go straight to Scrooge's office, well, technically his office now. Needless to say the employees were a bit confused. So, he explained everything to them, they wouldn't do stuff for him if they didn't think he was supposed to be there after all. The confusion was still present, but whatever, he could work with it. 

"And Mr. McDuck is just letting you do this?" Fenton asked; Louie confirmed that and he and Gyro shared a look, they didn't know if he was kidding or not, they never did with Louie. "Louie, you're ten, you can't run an entire company on your own. Surely, Mr. McDuck knows that." Fenton looked at Gryo again and he shrugged. They both missed Louie's annoyed look. "Maybe we should call him or-" 

"No! Don't do that!" They looked at him and he sighed, "Come on, I can do this! I defeated the villains, didn't I? I can totally handle this! I was made for business, and I'm willing to put in the work for it. And I have magic, if something goes wrong I can deal with it. I'm doing this, nothing you said can convince me otherwise." Louie glared at them challengingly and Gryo threw his hands up as he walked away, muttering about how 'he didn't have time for this', Fenton lingered for a few moments before giving him one last look and leaving as well. The others followed after them and Louie breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down, why did everyone think he couldn't do this? He could, he knew he could. He had to. 

Besides, this would be a good experience for him, he would finally be able to figure out his own way to business. Stealing wasn't on his list, but technically this wasn't stealing, he got the contract fair and square. ...Okay, the fact that he had to say technically wasn't a good sign but, but, that was all he had. Give him a break, he was just getting actually started with all of this! He still had a lot to learn, but nothing else had been working, so actually doing it had to be it. He was a little in over his head, he would admit that, but this was still nothing he couldn't handle. He just wished he wasn't doing this alone, he wished his brothers were here. 

But he was doing this for them, and his Dad. And with that in mind he set to doing the next thing on his list. 

The magic test was going good so far, they weren't really getting anywhere but Lena was not giving up on it and that was a good sign. The test consisted of performing different areas of magic, ie: spells, runes, charms, and she could do them, but only in relation to shadow magic. So they weren't really learning anything- they didn't know if that was happening cause it was the only magic she could do or if she just hadn't learned how to do others. The four of them quickly concluded they weren't getting anywhere and decided to put it on pause for the time being. 

After talking some more they figured the best point of action was going to Donald's library and doing some research in there. They also figured none of them were in the mood to do research and started to just goof off instead. But, as was typical with them, it quickly turned into trouble. How were they supposed to know the unmarked room in the east hallway was off-limits? A lot of rooms were unmarked, surely if you wanted it known a room was off-limits you would mark it as so? Then again, with people like Dewey and Webby in the mansion... Maybe leaving the door blank was the best option. But considering the four of them went into it anyways, maybe not. 

The point was, they knew they were in big trouble and were already trying to make up excuses. 

Wait, maybe they weren't in trouble, maybe they could take care of this before any of the adults saw. This being an artifact come to life. "The Gauntlet of Athanasia!" Webby said as it shot out of the room. The others looked at her and she explained as they rushed after it. "It's an ancient artifact that's said to take away or grant immortality, you know, depending on the person. I don't know why it's here and not the other bin." 

Huey and Dewey shared a look, "Other bin?" 

"Not the time!" Lena shouted as they caught up to it. "What happens if you use magic against this thing?" Webby shrugged. "Alright, only one way to find out then." She turned to the boys. 

"What-us?!" 

She threw her hands up, "Well, I can't do anything!" The boys were about to shoot back a retort when Webby leaped forward and tackled the gauntlet. The other three blinked, "That's another way to do it I suppose." They quickly leaped on it as well, hoping the combined bodyweight of all of them would keep it down longer. It did, and they were able to take it back to the room it came from with little problem. And it seemed to be their lucky day cause they were able to do it without getting caught. But none of them wanted to push their luck so as soon as they were sure it was secure in that room they voted to just go hang out in the den. That would certainly be less of an adventure. 

Meetings were boring, Louie instantly decided, why did people have to have them? Like really, what good were they for? Especially this one, what did he care about some mysterious island in some sea? I mean, magical defense did put him on edge a little bit, but his Uncle classified plastic bowls as magical defense, he wasn't the brightest about the subject. It was probably just something he didn't understand and couldn't be bothered to figure out. Yeah, that sounded like Scrooge. 

Besides, he knew pretty much everything about defensive magic -due to it being his specialty- and he had never heard of this place before, it couldn't be anything important. 

"Alright, anything else or we good?" He asked, wanting to get away from the Buzzards as soon as possible, something about them unnerved him. But they continued getting onto him about all the money he was spending so he just groaned and sunk back into his chair. This was so not the fun business experience he was expecting. God, no wonder his Uncle was always so grouchy, maybe he was onto something about him not being ready... 

Nah, that couldn't be right, after everything he'd been through he was ready for anything. Including meetings, even if it felt like they went on for _hours_. There was a lot more to this business thing than he figured, well, that was what today was about, wasn't it? He needed to figure out his way to do it, and right now all that included was how to ban meetings forever. There had to be a way to do that, right? Like a rule he could make or something, that was what bosses did, wasn't it?

...Okay, he still had a lot to figure out when it came to this stuff. But, he knew more than he did this morning, and that was something. 

Eventually the Buzzards figured out that he wasn't listening to them and dismissed the meeting, which made him inwardly cheer. He practically sped out of the room and made a beeline for the actual money bin. He had been doing things for other people all day, it was his turn to do something he wanted to. Er, he _did_ want to do that stuff, and he would always put his brothers and Dad before himself, but he needed a bit of a break from the hard stuff. Money was fun and he had a certain prowess when it came to numbers, but money management was not something he wanted to do for hours on hours. 

So yeah, a break was definitely needed. He got to the edge of the diving board and was about to jump when a loud, explosive noise came from outside the Money Bin. Oh, that couldn't be good. Ah, well, someone else's problem. Wait... it was his problem now. He had to handle this stuff, just like he said he could. He made his way back to his office where Fenton already was. "What's going on? What was that noise?" Louie asked as soon as he saw him. 

"Something's attacking the money bin, I'm not sure what but it just showed up out of nowhere!" Nowhere, that island the Buzzards were talking about. Oh boy. He should've paid more attention to that, not that they gave any actual information. "It seems to be looking for something," Fenton continued. "Maybe if we can find whatever it is we can give it to it and it'll leave." It was worth a shot, so that was what they set to do. But how could they find it, they didn't even know what the creature was. He needed to get a look at it, maybe he's seen it in one of his Dad's books. 

He sneakily made his way to the front of the Bin while Fenton continued to search and peeked out of it. It didn't look familiar but it didn't look at anything peaceful either, whatever this was, it wanted a fight. He wasn't sure he knew how to fight on his own, but he had to try. ...Whenever Fenton got back, even with his magic he couldn't take that thing on solo. He moved slightly and then the figure whipped towards the noise and locked eyes with him. It let out a groan and made its way right for him, he fought the urge to scream and ran back into the building as Gizmoduck flew out of it. He headed straight for the creature but it didn't even spare him a glance and continued to go for Louie. Like he had a one-track mind, like... 

"He's here for me." Louie realized. 

As soon as that revelation hit him he ran from the money bin, he couldn't have any of them getting hurt because of him. But he couldn't run forever, he needed some sort of plan, think Louie, how could he take that thing down? Maybe he could figure out why it was after him, but it could be for many reasons- his magic, being related to Scrooge McDuck, he could've done something to it personally without even realizing it. What was most likely? Any of them, that was the problem. He knew _nothing_ about this thing, except that it had been locked away on some island for some mysterious reason. His Uncle would definitely know, speaking of his Uncle... 

"Help, Uncle Scrooge!" He cried when he noticed him. His Uncle said something he couldn't hear then narrowed his eyes and lunged at the thing that was chasing him, using his motion to swing from a lampost and knock its head into a window. He grabbed Louie's hand and pulled him by a food chart. "What is that thing?" 

"The Bombie." His Uncle said gravely. How did that help anything?! "The Bombie is a curse upon whoever is the richest duck in the world, and the main reason ae tried ta talk yew oot of this this mornin'." 

"I thought you just didn't want me to take your money!" Louie explained and Scrooge ran a hand down his face. "Well, why didn't you just say that then?!" He continued as the Bombie lifted up the cart they were behind and threw it away. 

The two of them ran, "Cause ae didnae think yew'd shut down its magical prison on yer _first day_!" The cart landed in front of them and caught on fire, leaving them trapped. The Bombie advanced towards them and they quickly lept for a nearby bush. "Yew can't!" Scrooge said in response to his question. "He cannot be bought, he cannot be fought, though riches yew've got, yer life will be fraught until yew have earned the ane thing yew have not!" What? 

"But I'm the richest duck in the world! I have everything!" Apparently so did his Uncle but nothing worked, nothing except putting it on that island. Stupid Buzzards, why did they not explain things they should?! He would've never let them cut the power there if he knew that _this_ was what was there. Note for the future, his Uncle knew way more about magical defense than he thought. ...And he should probably listen to him more, that would also be a good idea. "If you couldn't beat the curse, how am I supposed to do it?" He asked after the two of them got into a car. 

His Uncle looked at him, "Louie, just give the money back, let me take back the curse." 

"But then he'll come after you!" Louie protested. 

"Ae'll figure oot how ta beat him, ae'm Scrooge Mcduck!" A noise suddenly came from outside the car and the two of them looked to see the Bombie standing right outside. Louie let out a gasp. The Bombie lifted the car up which made him fall out of it, his Uncle told him to run so that was what he did, until he nearly got hit with the car. He ran again but got cornered so he ran for a building and tried to open its doors, but they wouldn't budge. Ah come on, couldn't he have one thing?! 

He continued to run until he got cornered for good, this time by his own sign, and stood helplessly as the Bombie advanced towards him, "Please stop, I can't do this. I shouldn't even be the richest duck in the world!" He exclaimed as he threw his hands up to protect himself, waiting for a hit that never came. Wait, what? The Bombie stared at him so he went on, "I'm not ready to be a businessman." And that was what this whole thing was about, wasn't it? He wasn't ready for any of this. He wasn't ready to have a way to business, he was still learning. 

"That's the thing the richest duck in the world needs to earn, humility. Being able to admit that you can't do something." All-day he had been saying over and over how he could do this, how he could handle everything, figure it out, but he couldn't, not yet. Everyone else was right, _his brothers_ were right, he didn't need this as much as he thought he did. Or maybe he did, this was a lesson he needed to learn, and it seemed experience was the only way he could. So in a way, he had been right as well. Just, not in the way he had thought, but that was okay, that was just how life worked sometimes. 

He then noticed how dirty the Bombie's shoes were and got an idea. He went to grab stuff his Uncle had had with them then turned around to face the Bombie and wordlessly offered to clean his shoes. He let out another noise then brought his foot down, Louie froze in acceptance before it landed just in front of him. He smiled and got to work, "Been walking a long way, sorry about that. This curse affects us both, huh?" He continued to clean for a few seconds before his Uncle came to join him. 

"How did yew-?" He asked as he accepted the end of the towel Louie was holding out. 

Louie shrugged, "You've met my Dad."

"Aye, that ae have." Scrooge said fondly. The two of them polished his shoe. "Good thinking', Lad." 

"Uncle Scrooge, you can have your fortune back, I am not cut out to be the richest duck in the world." The curse silently went back to Scrooge. 

"Of course not, not yet anyway." His Uncle said comfortingly. "But, Louie, yew were a better billionaire than I was today, in every sense of the word." They smiled at each other as the curse faded completely then turned to the Bombie looking at his reflection in his shoes. He and Louie shared a look and then he was on his way, carelessly pushing things out of his path as he went. 

Louie looked at his Uncle, "So, you're not super mad at me?" 

He shook his head, "Ae was never mad, just worried. But yew handled yerself pretty well all things considerin'. Now come on, we should head home, ae'm sure yer brothers are dyin' ta hear how this went." Right, his brothers, they were... not fighting but not in near-perfect agreement like they usually were. And now he had that to go deal with, great. Just absolutely great. As if this day hadn't been long enough already. 

* * *

Donald looked up from his phone as he heard the front door open, Louie was back, and their Uncle was with him. That was either a good or bad sign. He subtly looked over the two of them before they could see he was there. They appeared fine, not a scratch in sight, but appearances could be deceiving, so he got their attention, "How'd it go?" 

They turned, just now noticing him and Louie answered, "Good, I learned a pretty valuable lesson." He and Scrooge shared a smile then his Uncle rubbed his head, gave Donald a smile, and took his leave. His Dad patted the spot next to him on the stairs and he sat next to him. "Thanks for not keeping me from doing this, Dad, but you guys were right, I'm not ready. I'm glad I know that now." 

"I'm glad too, Kiddo, and I am _so_ proud of you, it takes a big person to admit something like that." Louie smiled at him and he smiled back before continuing, "So when you were the richest duck in the world what do you do with the money?"

"Bought a lot of things."

"Anything else." Louie shook his head and Donald absentmindedly nodded. "I just got a call saying all my bills have been paid off, anonymously. And on the same day you had all that money." 

Louie looked down, "You've done so much for us, I wanted to repay you." 

"Kiddo, you didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to." And that was the real reason Louie had wanted to keep the money, that was the _least_ his Dad deserved. He had been taking care of him and his brothers their whole lives, and had never asked for anything in return- he was the _best_ in Louie's eyes. And their Uncle would never do something like that so when he saw the opportunity he took it, the reason he hadn't said anything about it was the same reason the payments had been anonymous, for once in his life he didn't want credit for something. It wasn't about that, it was about helping his Dad. That was much more important than credit. 

Donald looked at him fondly and kissed his head, he had the best kids. "That was very nice of you, Louie, thank you. I know you've had a pretty long day, so why don't you go relax for a bit and I'll make your favorite for dinner." Louie was about to object but he wouldn't let him. "It's what you deserve, I know you probably don't want me to make a big deal of this, but I can't just do nothing. Besides," Donald winked at him. "I was gonna do it anyway." Louie grinned and gave him a hug then went upstairs. 

He watched him go then made his way to the kitchen to find it was already occupied. He would've kept going to the kitchen on the houseboat, but he couldn't avoid Della forever. She seemed to have the same thought too cause she made no move to leave and instead gave him a tense smile, he nodded then made his way to start preparing for cooking. The kitchen was silent for a few minutes before he heard a voice behind him, "I'm sorry for overstepping, I was _way_ over the line, I knew that as soon as I said something. I just don't want them to make my mistakes, Donald." 

"I know, I don't want them to make mine either. But they're not us, and Louie didn't purposely cause the timephoon." 

"No, I know that now. He's a good kid, and I shouldn't have been so quick to assume, everything was just happening so fast, and I didn't know what was going on." Donald nodded understandingly. "I just got back to everyone, if I lost any of you I don't know what I would do." 

"You won't you just... _have_ to start thinking before you do things. How many times do people have to get hurt before you realize that?" He turned to her to see her looking down. Oh. "You do realize that now, right?" 

She let out a noise, "You always know me best. I have to talk to him, and Huey and Dewey, I have to let them know I'm gonna do better. For real this time. I'm going to re-earn my spot in this family." She looked at him. "I'm going to re-earn your trust." 

This might've been the longest trek Louie has ever taken. He wasn't entirely ready to face his brothers, truthfully he just wanted to do as his Dad said and relax, but he couldn't leave things open-ended, not with them. So, even though he was at his limit for hard work for the day, he opened the door and walked into their room. "Hey guys." 

They looked up from what they were doing and at him. "Hi Louie." The room fell silent after that, all of them having so much to say but not knowing where to start. Eventually one of them found the words. "How'd it go today?" Huey asked, he didn't know what he was hoping for the answer to be but he knew they needed to know regardless. That would determine which direction this conversation took. 

"Yeah it went good, I uh figured out I'm not quite ready to be a businessman so there's that. It felt like all day I had to prove that I know what I was doing, but I didn't. And those stupid Buzzards don't know how to not keep important information to themselves. I got in way over way head and something bad happened, but then Uncle Scrooge and I made it okay again. But I learned what I needed to learn, I was right, I did need this, just not in the way I thought. I'm sorry for last night though, you guys were right too." 

"Well, we're glad you got what you needed out of it. ...You don't have to prove anything to anyone, ever. You know that, right?" Louie looked down and Huey grabbed his hand. "You don't, who you are right now is enough. And if _certain_ people can't see that that's on them and not you. You don't have to fix everything on your own." 

Louie nodded and hugged his brothers, "I thought I could, I thought I could make everything better for everyone, that money solved everything, you know? But it doesn't and I can't. I just, you all have done so much for me these past few weeks and I know I don't have to repay you for it or anything, but I wanted to. That's why I really wanted the money, I mean, the other stuff was nice, but it really was just icing on the cake. I just want things to be easier for you guys and Dad, cause it's what you deserve." The two of them looked at him speechlessly, of course he was doing this for his family- it was Louie, but sometimes they forgot just how deep he cared. How much his family really meant to him. That was what made it so hard for them to really be mad at him when he did things like this, he always had good intentions. 

"You deserve everything we've done for you too, Louie, don't forget that." 

"Della..." Was all Donald could think to say. How did he respond to something like that? 

"I know I lost it when I left, and lost again when I got back and did stupid things, but I am, you're the most important person to me in the world, Donald. I thought it was the kids but ever since I realized I lost my chance to be a parent to them all I've cared about is getting back on your good side. You're my other half, my better half, and I'll never take that for granted again." Donald turned back to the dinner he was preparing as he thought about what to say. Cause the thing was, he wanted to believe her, and it seemed like this time she was really gonna put the work in and stick with it but it was hard. She hurt him so much, she hurt his boys, those weren't things he could just let go of. But he would have to, if he wanted to heal from this, if he wanted all of them to heal from this, he had to. It was time he listened to his own advice. 

"I want to believe you, Della, I want us all to move on from this, but you left and I'm not sure I can ever move past that. You weren't supposed to leave, not your boys, not me. And you did." 

He felt someone come up next to him and give him a hug which made him freeze. "I know, I'm not sure I can move past it either, but we have to try. It's what we deserve. We can do it together, the two of us against the world once again." Donald smiled bittersweetly. 

"It's not just us anymore. You know it's not. But yeah, we can do it together." He hugged her back, something he realized he hadn't done for weeks now. He had forgotten how much he missed it. "Do you wanna help me with dinner?" She nodded and the two of them got to work. Their relationship was by no means repaired, but this felt like an actual start. Like it eventually could be. And maybe right now that was the best they could get. 

Louie did know that, he knew his worth, he hadn't before but everything that had happened had made him realize it. His family had always been willing to do a lot for him but this had proved how much and he knew what that meant. It meant they thought he was someone worth caring about, and if they thought it it had to be true. But his brothers had been willing to do just a little bit more, which brought him to something else he had been meaning to bring up. "I don't like that you guys have been putting your lives on hold for me!" 

Huey and Dewey looked at each other confused, "We have?" They didn't think they were, they were just waiting for him to want to make progress, so that they could do it together. That was the way it should be done as far as they were concerned. "We've just been waiting for you, Louie, so that we could do this together." Huey explained. 

"But I don't want you to feel like you have to wait for me, I don't wanna hold you back." 

"You're not, we wait for you cause you're our brother, and you're worth waiting for. We _want_ to wait for you, and we'll do it as long as you need us to." Dewey tried to comfort Louie but he just brushed it off, which made him share a look with Huey. He hardly ever did that, this really had to be bothering him. 

Louie pulled his hood over his head, which only served to prove their point. " _All_ you're doing is waiting for me lately, I can't keep doing this to you, it's not fair." 

Huey almost threw his hands up in frustration, they always seemed to go back to this. "You're not doing anything to us! We're brothers, we're there for each other whenever we need it, no matter how many times we need it! That's what we do! If one of us were in this position you would be here for us just as much as we are now, you have been before! So what's the problem?" 

"Yeah, and when you were in my position you felt just as bad as I do!" Louie shot back and Huey deflated, that was true, but that was just how the three of them were with each other sometimes. So why did this feel like more than that? 

"You still think the timephoon was your fault, don't you?" Huey correctly guessed, he didn't have to see the expression on Louie's face to know that. 

Dewey immediately pulled him into a hug, "It wasn't, you gotta stop being so hard on yourself. You said it yourself, it was inevitable, how could something that was meant to happen be your fault?" Louie didn't have an answer so Dewey continued, "And we've been in your position, which means you've been in ours, which means you know how we feel right now. Why is it so easy for you to say the things we're saying right now but not believe them for yourself?" 

"I don't know!" He looked down and softly went on, "I don't know. I just know I don't want to be the reason you don't move forward. If I'm stuck that doesn't mean you have to be too." 

"You don't get it, we _want_ to be stuck, we want to be in this together, for better _and_ for worse. We're not moving on without you, we're not leaving you behind. We're the Duck Triplets, we do things together or not at all." Huey said with conviction and Louie smiled and gestured for him to join the hug to which he happily did so. It seemed like Louie finally got it, maybe now they could really be in it together again. 

"See what happens when we don't push our feelings aside for each other?" Dewey asked and his brothers smiled. Yeah, they did, they would have to try to not do it so much in the future. Sometimes they had to get upset or mad and they had to voice that they were, sometimes they had to remember that their feelings were just as important as their brothers. Even if doing so made things more complicated, even if doing so meant that the other two wouldn't do something. They shouldn't have to do something like that, not with each other. 

There was a silence in the air as Donald and Della worked on dinner, until Della suddenly perked up. "I have someone I want you to meet!" She took off without another word and his confused gaze followed after. She came back a few seconds later with a radio of some sort, "I've been trying to get in contact with my friend Penny these past few days, maybe now I'll have some luck!" 

Donald shrugged and turned back to the food, when she got in one of these moods he knew there was nothing he could do to stop her. For a few minutes the only sound in the room was static as Della fiddled with the radio until suddenly a crackly voice came through. "Penny!" Della gasped excitedly then turned to Donald and motioned him over. He looked at the radio for a few seconds before hitting it, making the voice come through clearer. 

"This is Lieutenant Penumbra for her friend, Della Duck." Della looked at Donald with a smug look on her face, he rolled his eyes. "All of your defense satellites just went down for some reason. Lunaris is bringing an army to destroy Earth! Della, he's coming for your family." 

The kitchen fell silent once more. 


End file.
